By: Beth Walsh for Fibroids1Partial uterine artery embolization appears to be just as effective as complete embolization to treat fibroid symptoms, according to study results reported at the most recent Society of Interventional Radiology meeting.
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Experts have found some groups at higher risk of developing fibroids: middle-aged women, overweight women and African-American women.
See your doctor if you have pelvic pain that doesn't go away, heavy or painful periods, spotting or bleeding between periods, pain with intercourse, or difficulty emptying your bladder or moving your bowels. These are all signs of fibroids. |
Fibroid tumors are benign masses of fibrous muscle tissue in the uterine wall that may cause heavy menstrual bleeding, pain in the pelvic region, or pressure on the bladder or bowel. Embolization is a technique in which small particles are injected into the arteries of the uterus to block the arterial branches that supply blood to the fibroids. Without the blood supply, the fibroid tissue dies, the masses shrink, and in most cases symptoms are relieved. The procedure is done under local anesthesia and is much less invasive than undergoing open surgery to remove uterine fibroids.
Some clinicians have theorized that the uterine artery might not have to be blocked entirely to relieve fibroid symptoms. They have studied outcomes after blocking the vessels going to the fibroids. This is called partial embolization. Partial embolization has become possible thanks to new spherical embolization particles. Compared with older particles, the new ones clump less, making them easier for the physician to control. They are more expensive, however.
Partial embolization was thought to result in less pain, fewer complications and less of a negative impact on sexual dysfunction and fertility, but this most recent study showed no differences in menstrual bleeding, patient satisfaction or pain between patients who underwent the two procedures. The study included 136 women with symptomatic fibroids who were randomized to undergo complete embolization or partial embolization.
Although both partial and complete embolization yielded similar results, the researchers noted that about 80 to 90 percent of women with uterine fibroids undergo a hysterectomy to manage their symptoms rather than these less invasive procedures.
Fibroids are the most common kind of growths of the uterus; approximately 20 to 30 percent of women have fibroids. Researchers do not fully understand what causes fibroids but do believe that their growth is related to estrogen and possibly other hormones. Increased levels of these hormones may speed up the growth rate of fibroids.
