Gynecologic and obstetric management of women with von Willebrand disease: summary of 3 systematic reviews of the literature.

Abstract

Von Willebrand disease, (VWD) disproportionately affects women due to potential issues with heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), delivery complications, and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). To systematically synthesize the evidence regarding first line management of HMB, treatment of women requiring/desiring neuraxial analgesia, and management of PPH. We searched Medline and EMBASE through October 2019 for randomized trials, comparative observational studies, and case series comparing the effects of desmopressin, hormonal therapy, and tranexamic acid (TXA) on HMB, comparing different von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels in women with VWD undergoing labor and receiving neuraxial anesthesia and the effects of TXA on PPH We conducted duplicate study selection, data abstraction, and appraisal of risk of bias. Whenever possible, we conducted meta-analyses. We assessed the quality of the evidence using the GRADE approach. We included 1 randomized trial, 3 comparative observational studies and 10 case series. Moderate certainty evidence showed that desmopressin results in a smaller reduction of menstrual blood loss (difference in mean change from baseline, 41.6 [95% CI, 16.6 to 63.6] points in pictorial blood assessment chart score as compared to TXA. There was very low certainty evidence about how first line treatments compare against each other, the effects of different VWF levels in women receiving neuraxial anesthesia, and the effects of TXA administration postpartum. Most of the evidence relevant to the gynecologic and obstetric management of women with VWD addressed by most guidelines is very low quality. Future studies addressing research priorities will be key when updating such guidelines.