A randomized comparison of endometrial laser intrauterine thermotherapy and hysteroscopic endometrial resection

Objective:To investigate the difference of long-term amenorrhea rate in patients with menorrhagia treated byendometrial laser intrauterine thermal therapy (ELITT), a new nonhysteroscopic endometrial ablation proce-dure, versus transcervical hysteroscopic endometrial resection (TCRE).Design:Randomized clinical study. Healthy volunteers in an academic research environment.Setting:Academic teaching hospital.Patient(s):Premenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding.Intervention(s):Fifty-eight patients were treated with the ELITT procedure and 58 patients with TCRE; bothgroups were treated with GnRH agonists before the procedure.Main Outcome Measure(s):Bleeding status and patient satisfaction after treatment were evaluated as wellas the intraoperative complication rate.Result(s):At 12 months, the amenorrhea rate was 56% in the ELITT group and 23% in the TCRE group. At36 months, the figures were 61% for ELITT and 24% for TCRE. No significant complications were recordedfor either procedure.Conclusion(s):Results of this randomized study demonstrate that both procedures are equally effective in thetreatment of menorrhagia. However, the ELITT procedure has proven to be superior in inducing amenorrhea.