Florence, 20 June 2024 – I uterine fibroids, Benign tumors of the uterine muscles affect approximately 25% of women of reproductive age. Among these, about 10% require surgical treatment, according to a 2022 report from the Gimbe observatory.
In Tuscanythe same report revealed that in 2020, 5.9% of the female population underwent surgery hysterectomy – removal of the uterus – to treat symptoms related to uterine fibromatosis. This procedure, while effective, is invasive and can have a significant impact on women’s quality of life.
Fortunately, the modern minimally invasive techniques offer less drastic alternatives for the management of symptoms associated with uterine fibroids.
Uterine myomas, also called fibroids, are very common ‘benign expansive processes of the uterus’ and, if numerous and voluminous, can cause various symptoms: pelvic heaviness and swelling, prolonged menstrual bleeding, irregular or long-lasting cycles, bleeding between menstrual cycles, infertility problems, difficulty completing a pregnancy and sexual discomfort, painful symptoms associated with the sexual act.
The technologies available today allow symptomatic uterine myomatosis to be treated with minimally invasive techniques such as embolization and thermoablation, reducing hospitalization times and post-operative discomfort to a minimum. The procedures are performed under sedation, in day hospital or with a short hospitalization.
“Embolization – explains the doctor Claudio Raspantispecialist in Interventional Radiology, who deals with the minimally invasive treatment of symptomatic uterine myomatosis and has carried out clinical and research activities at St. George’s Hospital in London – consists in the reduction of blood flow directed to the myomas obtained through the injection of small particles in the uterine arteries, while thermoablation allows the targeted treatment of individual fibroids: the result is a significant volumetric reduction of the myomas and the regression of the associated symptoms”.
TO Villa Donatello it is possible to perform these operations thanks to the presence of cutting-edge technologies: a latest generation angiograph, equipped with powerful image reconstruction software, which guarantees the highest safety standards for embolization, and high-end ultrasound machines which allow optimal during thermal ablation of uterine fibroids. Each case is evaluated by a multidisciplinary team of interventional radiologists and gynecologists, to offer the most suitable therapeutic option.
“In the cases of young women who want to become pregnant – explains Raspanti – the superiority of the classic laparoscopic myomectomy has been demonstrated to obtain the best results also in terms of fertility. From this point of view, embolization is a little less effective, so it is usually reserved for women with multiple fibroids or large fibroids, who have already had children, who are closer to menopause or who in any case do not have a desire of maternity, for which the alternative would be a hysterectomy”.
