The abnormal growth in the uterus is the development of uterine fibroids. Although fibroids are harmless or non-cancerous, they can cause infertility, excessive bleeding, and pelvic pain as symptoms and side effects. If you have uterine fibroids symptoms, an ultrasound is used to diagnose or identify them.
Common symptoms:
- Heavy, prolonged menstrual bleeding, sometimes with clots
- Anemia
- Pelvic pain
- Frequent and hurried urination
- Back and leg pain
- Constipation and bloating
- Infertility is caused by the distortion of the uterine lining
- Abnormally enlarged lower abdomen
What is Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE)?
Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) prevents blood from flowing through the vessels connected to the uterine fibroids. This non-surgical procedure is utilized as an alternative to a hysterectomy or myomectomy (a surgical procedure to remove fibroids. With no need for surgery, fibroids embolization is a minimally invasive treatment that shortens hospital stays and recovery periods.
For women with fibroids who do not wish to undergo surgery with a protracted recovery period, UFE treatment is the best choice. Moreover, it is a better choice than a hysterectomy for women who intend to conceive. The fibroids will shrink after UFE, and your symptoms, including heavy periods and persistent abdominal pain, may disappear.
With a great success rate, uterine fibroid embolization is a successful surgery. The majority of patients who have the surgery have a significant improvement in their symptoms and a reduction in the size of their uterine fibroids. After UFE, menstruation that had been heavy will typically resume its more regular flow. After embolization, fibroids starve and shrink, similarly to how they naturally do after menopause.
How does UFE work?
During UFE, a catheter (a tiny tube) is inserted into a leg or wrist blood vessel, directed by fluoroscopic (X-ray) pictures of the blood vessels that nourish the uterine fibroids. To restrict the blood flow to the fibroids, tiny particles are injected. Patients can go home after the fibroids’ blood supply is cut off as the fibroids gradually get smaller during the following few weeks and months.
