UTERINE ARTERY EMBOLISATION

UTERINE ARTERY EMBOLISATION is an excellent treatment option for the treatment of uterine fibroids. The treatment involves no surgical incision and the patient does not have to lose her uterus. The uterine artery is accesed through a small puncture of the groin artery and using endovascular catheters, following this the arteries supplying the fibroid are identified and closed with embolic material. This leads to shrinkage of the fibroid over time. The only discomfort to the patient is some pain post procedure. This pain is again seen in only few patients and is easily managed medically. This treatment is excellent for intramural and submucosal fibroids and in ladies with excessive bleeding or those with pressure symptoms due to the fibroid. The patient is usually discharged within a day or two. The reason for the limited utilisation of this treatment in our country could be largely because the patients are often not offered this treatment as an option by the treating gynaecologists who would rather remove the uterus or perform other surgical procedures. The patients should make an effort to directly consult an interventional radiologist for their problem and seek their opinion. The risks are minimal, the results are excellent and the recovery is fast and most of all the patient retains her uterus without a surgery.

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