A comparative study using early second-look laparoscopic evaluation of post-operative adhesion formation between two surgical procedures for polycystic ovarian syndrome

No studies have been performed to evaluate and compare adhesion formation after laparoscopic ovarian drilling with that after ovarian wedge resection by minilaparotomy at the very early stage one week after surgery in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). We investigated adhesion formation after surgical ovarian wedge resection by minilaparotomy (group I; n=37) and laparoscopic ovarian electrodrilling (group II; n=39) in 76 clomiphene citrate-resistant anovulatory infertile women with PCOS. All patients underwent an early second-look laparoscopy one week after operation. Thirty-six women (92.3%) in group II were found to be free of adhesions, whereas 81.1% (30 of 37) of the women in group I had periovarian adhesions. The frequencies of periovarian, intra-abdominal and uterine adhesions in group I were significantly higher than those in group II. There were significant differences in the AFS adhesion scores between group I (9.0±9.7 points) and group II (0.1±0.5 points). After surgery all women ovulated spontaneously or with clomiphene citrate. The pregnancy rate within 1 year after surgery in group II (87.2%) was significantly higher than that in group I (59.5%). The women with PCOS who were treated with laparoscopic ovarian electrodrilling were almost free of postoperative adhesion formation and most of them conceived within 1 year after surgery. This laparoscopic technique should be considered at an early stage in infertile women with PCOS who have failed to respond to clomiphene citrate therapy.