Expert Consensus on the Management of Adenomyosis: A Modified Delphi Method Approach by the Taiwan Endometriosis Society.

Abstract

Objectives: To establish the expert opinions and consensus recommendations from the Taiwanese Endometriosis Society on managing adenomyosis.

Materials and methods: This study employed a two-round modified Delphi method incorporating a national panel of expert gynecologists to form the consensus on managing adenomyosis. The first round of the Delphi procedure involved an expert panel from the board members to evaluate the relevance of each item. In the subsequent round of votes, gynecologists affiliated with the Taiwan Endometriosis Society participated and used a 5-point Likert scale to cast votes and approve each statement. The rating scales for each item of the key recommendations were analyzed for the distribution of degrees of agreement.

Results: The consensus for managing adenomyosis was developed, encompassing various aspects including imaging diagnosis, hormonal treatment, surgical treatment, noninvasive/minimally invasive treatment, infertility concerns, and obstetric considerations. In the first round of voting, all 25 recommendations received approval from the board members, advancing them to the second round. During the second round of voting, the majority of recommendations received either a "strongly agree" or "agree" response. There was divergence regarding the similarity of effectiveness in alleviating adenomyosis-related pain by either laparotomic or laparoscopic approaches (55% strongly agree or agree vs. 21% disagree or strongly disagree).

Conclusion: The Taiwan Endometriosis Society expert panel has established a set of consensus guidelines for the management of adenomyosis. There are diverging opinions among experts regarding the optimal surgical approaches for resection of adenomyosis.