Efficacy of oxytocics on reducing intraoperative blood loss during abdominal myomectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of oxytocics administration (oxytocin and carbetocin) on reducing intraoperative bleeding during abdominal myomectomy.

METHODS

PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched from inception until March 2021. Only randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) were considered. The included RCTs were evaluated for risk of bias. The main outcome measures were mean intraoperative blood loss (ml), mean duration of hospital stay (day), mean operation time (min), mean difference of postoperative hemoglobin (g/dl), mean difference of postoperative hematocrit (%), and rate of blood transfusion (%). Pooled outcomes were summarized as risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with their 95% confidence interval (CI) in a random-effects model.

RESULTS

Seven RCTs met the inclusion criteria (n=758 patients; 329 patients per group). Compared with control group, oxytocin and carbetocin resulted in a significantly lower intraoperative blood loss (MD=-281.08 ml, 95% CI [-400.63, -161.53], p<0.001), hospital stay (MD=-0.21 days, 95% CI [-0.31, -0.10], p<0.001), and need for blood transfusion (RR=0.32, 95% CI [0.22, 0.46], p<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that oxytocin, but not carbetocin, correlated with a reduced mean difference of postoperative hemoglobin (MD=0.60 g/dl, 95% CI [0.24 to 0.96], p=0.001), postoperative hematocrit (MD=2.29%, 95% CI [1.06, 3.52], p<0.001), and operation time (MD=-14.66 min, 95% CI [-21.04, -8.25], p<0.001) compared with control group.

CONCLUSION

Among women undergoing abdominal myomectomy, administration of oxytocin and carbetocin correlated with several beneficial clinical outcomes, such as reduced intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, and blood transfusion requirement.