Over half of all women diagnosed with uterine fibroids are under the age of 55. Symptoms can be non-existent but, for some women, they can be debilitating and even life-threatening if not addressed. Symptoms like heavy bleeding can lead to anemia. Infertility and chronic pelvic pain due to uterine fibroids can severely degrade one’s quality of life and completely change future goals and relationships.
Uterine Fibroids Treatment
The most common treatment for fibroids, a hysterectomy, isn’t exactly simple. A major surgical procedure, hysterectomies occur in hospital settings with general anesthesia. Patients can experience prolonged, painful recoveries and side-effects like bleeding and infection are not uncommon.
Enter Uterine Fibroid Embolization, or UFE. A safe, outpatient, minimally invasive option with less risk and shorter recovery time than surgical alternatives. Needing no incisions, the treatment uses nothing more than a needle puncture.
How UFE Works
Using X-ray and ultrasound guidance, the physician guides a wire through the blood vessels that supply the fibroids. Over the wire, a tiny tube then advances into the arteries. Through that tube, tiny beads are fed into the blood supply of the fibroids, blocking it off, and starving the fibroids of oxygen – causing them to shrink.
At ECCO Medical, Dr. Aaron Kovaleski offers a level of expertise with UFE unmatched in the state of Colorado. He utilizes an approach through the wrist offered by very few. This allows patients to sit up, use the bathroom, and move around as soon as the treatment completes. Patients recover for an hour and head home to rest on their favorite couch, chair, or bed.
Interested in learning more or concerned you may have uterine fibroids? Take our quiz or read more about UFE on our services page. If you already have a diagnosis of uterine fibroids, call us to set up a consultation.
