As per the findings of a study published in Gynecological Endocrinology, subcutaneous etonogestrel implants are a novel option for the clinical treatment of adenomyosis for people who refuse surgery. This clinical observational study was carried to investigate the efficacy of etonogestrel implants in 20 patients with adenomyosis.

For 36 months, the recruited people were followed up. In this study, evaluation of the following parameters was done: (i) alterations in bleeding patterns, (ii) pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC) for estimating menstrual blood volume, (iii) uterine volume, (iv) the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score for dysmenorrhea, (v) adverse effects, (vi) levels of hemoglobin, and (vii) levels of serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125).

During the three years of follow-up, removal of the etonogestrel implants was done from six patients, among whom 1 was diagnosed with an endometrial tumor, 4 had an elevated menstrual blood volume, and 1 entered menopause. Overall, 14 patients were treated with subcutaneous etonogestrel implants for three years.

Notably, the number of people with heavy menstrual bleeding and increased PBAC and VAS scores and the levels of CA125 in serum considerably dropped following implantation vs. prior to implantation. The levels of hemoglobin elevated gradually in eight patients with anemia. But, the uterine volumes did not alter substantially. Bleeding patterns were altered but were tolerable. Thus, etonogestrel implants appear to yield satisfactory outcomes in adenomyosis patients.