Authors' recommendations: Overall, endometrial ablation was well tolerated in terms of pain in the outpatient and daycase settings with relatively few complications with either device. In the absence of local anesthetic, however, the procedure had to be stopped in a minority of women and there was a large and unpredictable variation in the amount of pain reported. One study suggested that endometrial ablation with the Thermachoice III may be a feasible alternative in the office setting. With endometrial ablation using the NovaSure device, limited evidence suggested that its success rate in the outpatient setting was acceptable. These observations are, however, based on a small number of studies with important limitations. There were no head-to-head comparisons between the Thermachoice III and NovaSure devices in the outpatient setting, so it is not possible to make any conclusions about their comparative clinical- or cost-effectiveness. Outpatient endometrial ablation with either device seems clinically feasible under specific protocols.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.cadth.ca/media/pdf/L0099_Endometrial_Ablation_final.pdf

Year Published: 2009

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Canada

Organisation Name: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health

Contact Address: 600-865 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S8 Canada. Tel: +1 613 226 2553; Fax: +1 613 226 5392;

Contact Name: requests@cadth.ca

Contact Email: requests@cadth.ca

Copyright: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)