Appraisal of national and international uterine fibroid management
guidelines: a systematic review
Abstract
Background Guidelines standardise high-quality evidence-based management
strategies for clinicians. Uterine fibroids are a highly prevalent
condition and may exert significant morbidity. Objectives The purpose of
this study was to appraise national and international uterine fibroid
guidelines using the validated AGREE-II instrument. Selection Strategy
An electronic database search of PubMed and EMBASE from inception to
October 2020 for all published English-language uterine fibroid clinical
practice guidelines was undertaken. Data Collection and Analysis 939
abstracts were screened for eligibility by two reviewers independently.
Three reviewers used the AGREE-II instrument to assess guideline quality
in six domains (scope and purpose, stakeholder involvement, rigour of
development, clarity of presentation, applicability, and editorial
independence). Recommendations were mapped to allow a narrative
synthesis regarding areas of consensus and disagreement. Main Results
Eight national (AAGL, SOGC 2014, ACOG, ACR, SOGC 2019, CNGOF, ASRM, and
SOGC 2015) and one international guideline (RANZOG) were appraised. The
highest scoring guideline was RANZOG 2001(score 56.5%). None of the
guidelines met the a priori criteria for being high-quality overall
(score >= 66%). There were 166 recommendations across
guidelines. There were several areas of disagreement and uncertainty.
Conclusions There is a need for high-quality fibroid guidelines given
heterogeneity across individuals and a large range of treatment
modalities available. There are also areas of controversy in the
management of fibroids (e.g. Ulipristal acetate, power morcellation)
which also should be addressed in any guidelines. Future guidelines
should be methodologically robust to allow high-quality decision-making
regarding fibroid treatments.