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Uterine Fibroid Embolization Technique

Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) technique, also called uterine artery embolization (UAE) technique, is a method of removing fibroids from the uterus. Fibroids are benign and non-cancerous growths that can happen in the muscular wall of the uterus as women age. Fibroid World estimates that anywhere between a fifth and two-fifths of women over age of 35 have fibroids in the uterus.

  1. Presence of Fibroids

    • Fibroids are not very easy to detect for two reasons: they can be extremely small in size, and the symptoms they cause are very similar to those caused by several common ailments. Fibroid symptoms include bloating, bleeding during periods, the urge to urinate or pass stools frequently, extended periods, constipation, and pain between the thigh bones and in the lower back.

    How Does Uterine Fibroid Embolization Technique Work

    • Fibroids get strength from the nutrients they get from blood. Uterine fibroid embolization's primary focus is to choke the blood supply to the muscle wall of the uterus where the fibroids are. Whether you have one fibroid or dozens the procedure is the same.

      The procedure is painless. You are given a local anesthesia or a dose of sedatives to help you remain calm and drowsy. The interventionist radiologist, who performs the procedure, passes a tiny catheter into the artery of the uterus by making a small incision on the skin of the groin. Small sand grain-sized particles consisting of gelatin or plastic sponge are inserted into the uterine artery. These particles settle at the entrance to the uterus wall. This cuts off the flow of blood into the uterus, thereby depriving the fibroids of their source of food. Over time, the fibroids shrink at the rate of roughly 40 to 50 percent in three months and eventually melt.

    Recovery and Side Effects

    • You will be required to stay in the hospital overnight after a uterine fibroid embolization. The day after the procedure, you will be released from hospital. Normal activities can be resumed within a week. There is almost no blood loss. However, the procedure has some side effects, which occur in approximately one-seventh of the patients who have undergone this procedure. Typically, these side effects include pain in the groin area for a few days, cramps, fever and nausea. Most of these can be treated with the help of medicines, though. The procedure also results in shrinkage of the uterus size by about a third. In approximately one to four of 100 procedures, injury to the uterus occurs. In some cases, this has led to the need for a hysterectomy. In approximately 2 to 6 percent of patients, the procedure causes menopause to begin.

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