UAE Patients Experience Less Bleeding, Shorter Hospital Stays.

CHICAGO -- Uterine artery embolization of symptomatic fibroids was associated with fewer hospitalizations, less blood loss, and a speedier return to work than abdominal myomectomy in a single-center study.

But uterine artery embolization is not appropriate for resolving myomas greater than 4 cm, de-bulking fibroids, or relieving pressure, Dr. Gloria L. Hwang reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

In a retrospective chart review that compared 61 women with fibroids who were treated by uterine artery embolization (UAE) and 44 patients who were treated by abdominal myomectomy, Dr. Hwang and her colleagues found that UAE was significantly better at relieving menorrhagia.

Of the patients in each group who had menorrhagia, 92% of those in the UAE group were successfully treated, compared with 67% of patients in the abdominal myomectomy group at a mean follow-up of 49 months, said Dr. Hwang of Stanford (Calif) University.

Abdominal myomectomy, however, was superior to UAE in relieving the symptoms of bulk or pressure (91% vs. 65%).

At baseline patients in the UAE group were more likely to have menorrhagia (82% vs. 61%) and were also slightly older (44 years versus 38 years), which most likely reflects the procedures selection criteria.

Candidates ...