Expectant management of functional ovarian cysts: an alternative to hormonal therapy

Abstract

Objective: We studied whether the administration of oral contraceptives facilitates the disappearance of spontaneously formed functional ovarian cysts.

Methods: Eighty patients in whom ultrasonography revealed unilateral, mobile, unilocular, thin-walled ovarian cysts without internal echoes and greater than 30 mm but not exceeding 60 mm in diameter were enrolled into the study. Patients were randomized by stratification to receive a low-dose monophasic pill, a high-dose monophasic pill, a multiphasic pill or no therapy. Patients were re-evaluated after 5 weeks of therapy and at the end of therapy (10 weeks).

Results: The mean ages and the mean cyst diameters of the patients for each group were not significantly different. We did not find a significant effect of oral contraceptive administration on the disappearance rate of functional ovarian cysts over that of expectant management.

Conclusion: We conclude that oral contraceptive therapy even with multiphasic pills is very effective in the management of functional ovarian cysts but expectant management achieves similar success rates and may be a good alternative to oral contraceptive therapy.