Symptoms caused by fibroids can be treated by medical therapy, techniques used to shrink fibroids, and surgery.
Medical therapy may involve the use of birth control pills or other hormone therapy, or the use of anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen.
Uterine fibroid embolization is a non-surgical procedure that relieves symptoms caused by fibroids. It is performed by a radiologist. A small catheter or tube is placed into a blood vessel in the groin. The catheter is directed through the blood vessels into the uterine arteries.
Small particles are placed through the catheter into these blood vessels that supply the uterine fibroids. These tiny particles block the blood supply to the fibroid and without good blood supply, the fibroid shrinks.
Between 82 and 94 percent of women treated with uterine fibroid embolization experience significant or total relief of their symptoms. The recovery period is less than a week.
Myomectomy involves surgically removing the fibroid while leaving the uterus in place, preserving the ability to have children. Myomectomy is performed by a gynecologist. If pregnancy occurs following certain types of myomectomy, a cesarean section birth may be necessary.
- Hysteroscopic myomectomy: If the fibroids are under the lining of the uterus and protrude into the uterine cavity, the doctor can remove them from a vaginal approach, and no incision is necessary.
- Laparoscopic myomectomy is one type of surgery using small incisions in the abdomen. A small camera, or scope, is inserted and special instruments are used to remove the fibroids.
- Abdominal myomectomy is another approach requiring a larger surgical incision in the abdomen. The fibroids are removed from the uterus, and the uterus is repaired and incision closed.
A hysterectomy removes the uterus and may be recommended when the pain and abnormal bleeding persists, the fibroids are very large, childbearing is completed, or other treatments are not possible.
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