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Newswise — Women whose lifestyles are severely limited by heavy bleeding, pain, pressure symptoms, and embarrassing spotting caused by uterine fibroid tumors -- and who do not want to undergo hysterectomy to remove the source of bleeding -- now have access to a safe, effective and outpatient alternative at Mayo Clinic. This new treatment is called focused ultrasound.
Focused ultrasound is a welcome advance in treating this common condition that affects an estimated 40 percent of women over age 40, because it is the first completely noninvasive treatment available for symptoms from uterine fibroid tumors. Women leave the doctor's office the same day, and resume activities the following day.
About Focused Ultrasound Procedure Focused ultrasound technology relies on the precise delivery of high-energy sound waves to destroy noncancerous tumors that have grown in the muscular wall of the uterus. Treatment is done with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine in a session that lasts about four hours. The patient is given a mild sedative before and during the procedure, and lies face down while the radiologist uses a computer to guide the MRI machine and locate the fibroids. Once the fibroids are located, high-frequency, high-energy sound waves are applied. The patient may feel warmth or cramping in the pelvis. No hospitalization is necessary, and generally patients require no post-procedure pain medication, or need only simple over-the-counter pain medications after the procedure.
About Uterine Fibroids
Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors that grow in or on the uterus. No one knows what causes them, but they are very common. An estimated 25 percent of U.S. women seek medical attention for uterine fibroids which can range from pea-sized to grapefruit-sized. The heavy bleeding and pressure symptoms caused by uterine fibroids prompt more than 200,000 women each year to undergo hysterectomies, and they are the second leading cause for women of reproductive age to undergo surgery. Traditionally, hysterectomy has been the most common treatment for uterine fibroids. More recently, uterine artery embolization has been used as a less-invasive alternative to hysterectomy. Both require patient hospitalization. The focused ultrasound treatment is the first completely noninvasive, outpatient treatment option for symptoms of uterine fibroids.
As one of just eight U.S. cities offering this new treatment, Mayo began its new focused ultrasound service in May, six months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the technology as an elective procedure. Mayo is the only medical center in the Midwest offering focused ultrasound. Mayo Clinic doctors have evaluated the procedure since 2002, and found the results to be excellent.
Gynecological surgeon Bobbie Gostout, M.D., says, "The demand by women for this procedure is high because women want a safe, effective alternative to surgical hysterectomy for this common problem. While the treatment is intended for women who have completed childbearing, or who do not intend to become pregnant, many women within that group still do not want a hysterectomy, with its two-to-three-day hospital stay and six weeks of postoperative recovery time."
Adds Mayo Clinic radiologist Gina Hesley, M.D., "Because of Mayo Clinic's multidisciplinary expertise and the team approach we use, we get excellent focused ultrasound outcomes. Treatment starts in obstetrics and gynecology where the patient is evaluated by specialists to determine if focused ultrasound is, in fact, her best option, and to detect any other relevant health issues. Radiologists then perform the procedure."
Drs. Gostout and Hesley say the ideal patient being referred to Mayo Clinic for evaluation for the focused ultrasound procedure is:*premenopausal, in her mid-30s to mid-50s*finished childbearing, or does not desire children*inconvenienced by uterine bleeding so profuse that it soaks menstrual pads in less than two hours, and requires multiple changes throughout the day, or*troubled by pelvic pressure, urinary frequency, or constipation due to uterine fibroids
Additional information about focused ultrasound for bleeding uterine fibroid tumors is available on the following Web site, http://www.mayoclinic.org/uterine-fibroids/
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