Transvaginal Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (vNOTES) in Benign Gynaecology: A Systematic Review of Adnexal, Myomectomy and Prolapse Procedures

Vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) is utilised for gynaecological procedures globally, however evidence to support its application aside from hysterectomy is lacking. A systematic review to determine feasibility and safety profile of vNOTES for benign gynaecology was conducted. A literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS and CENTRAL was conducted, including all types of studies reporting vNOTES for gynaecological indications. After excluding cases with concurrent hysterectomy, the review focuses on procedures for benign indications and oncological procedures are reported separately. Patient characteristics and perioperative outcomes were reported, with pooled analysis for sufficiently powered categories. 54 articles were analysed, including 7 comparative studies (n=439) and 1 RCT (n=34), reporting 2469 cases of vNOTES, including adnexal (tubal and/or ovarian) (43 articles, n=2261), myomectomy (10 articles, n=136) and prolapse repair (6 articles, n=72) in predominantly premenopausal women with BMI