Is Uterine Fibroid Embolization Safe?

Is Uterine Fibroid Embolization safe? Yes, Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) is a safe non-surgical procedure. It is done in the hospital by a radiologist with the aim of stopping the blood flow going into the fibroid, thus shrinking the fibroid over time.

This procedure is also known as Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE), but UFE is specifically for fibroid tumors unlike UAE which could also be applied to trauma, malignant gynecological tumors, and hemorrhage after childbirth. Moreover, this article focuses on how the procedure is done, how successful it is, the advantages of the procedure, and the risks and side effects of the said procedure.

It should be mentioned that uterine fibroid embolization doesn’t require surgical procedures. So exactly how then, is it done? Not being a surgery, UFE is done by giving the patient a medication that causes them to relax and does not require general anesthesia. This means that the patient will be awake during the entire procedure.

When the patient can no longer feel pain, the radiologist cuts a tiny part of the groin and inserts a catheter, a kind of tiny tube. The catheter is inserted through an artery to the uterus and when it is in place, tiny particles are injected into the bloodstream by way of the catheter. The tiny particles are made of plastic or gelatin sponge, the size of a grain of sand, which move into the smaller arteries and capillaries leading to the fibroids and cause a halt to or diminishing of the blood flow into the fibroid. Without blood coming into the fibroid, the tumor will then shrink over time.

Not being a surgical procedure, how successful is UFE? Fortunately, this procedure is very successful in reducing abnormal bleeding at a high rate of 85% to 95%. Additionally, 80% of women who have undergone this procedure were totally relieved of their pain, or mainly felt relieved. And in terms of improvement in pelvic pressure in women it goes up to 60% to 96% which is a good sign.  

In respect to fibroid surgery, what are the advantages of uterine fibroid embolization? UFE luckily doesn’t require you to stay in the hospital for weeks or months unlike surgery. After the procedure, you may stay just one night and then go home the following day. You can even do normal or daily activities after a week. In short, recovery period is shorter compared to surgery.  Another is that you do not incur a lot of blood loss and a big scar due to surgery. Even better, you do not need to be on general anesthesia during the whole procedure.

Though UFE is does not require surgery there are still risks and side effects on the procedure. What are these risks and side effects? After the first few hours of the procedure, some women may have moderate to severe cramps, including nausea and fever. A few others get infections and others also incur injuries to the uterus which may lead to uterus removal, known as hysterectomy. Otherwise, medicine can help relieve any infection or fever.

Summing all of these up, uterine fibroid embolization is still safe and effective and is one procedure that most women should consider instead of the actual surgery.