Most Women With Uterine Fibroids Recommended Surgical Removal of the Uterus

While 53% of women with fibroids are recommended hysterectomy, fewer than 20% receive counseling on less-invasive options.

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More than half the women diagnosed with fibroids in their wombs are presented with the option of a hysterectomy, a sterilizing operation, rather than less invasive procedures, said a survey commissioned by the Society of Interventional Radiology.

Uterine fibroids, defined as benign growths that often appear during years of pregnancy and birth, are not considered risk factors for cancer. Hysterectomies are often recommended for cancer of the cervix, ovaries and fallopian tubes.

This survey, conducted online with 1,122 women, said 53 percent of women diagnosed with uterine fibroids were presented with the hysterectomy option, while less than 20 percent were presented with less invasive options. Seventeen percent of the women surveyed reported that they believed that hysterectomy, removing their uterus, was their only option. The survey was conducted by Harris Poll, a research consulting group.

Women need to be informed about all their options of treatment, not just the surgical treatments recommended most often by gynecologists, said Dr. John C. Lipman, medical director of the Atlanta Fibroid Center, in a press release.

“The survey findings, coupled with the low number of women who were offered a minimally invasive treatment like UFE, (uterine fibroid embolization), indicate that women are not being given all of the information they need to make their own healthcare decisions,” said Dr. John C. Lipman, adviser for the report on this survey.

“Not offering minimally invasive treatments like UFE in addition to the surgical treatment options is a significant oversight.” 

Benefits of Less Invasive Procedures

During uterine fibroid embolization an interventional radiologist eliminates fibroids by blocking nonessential blood vessels leading to them. This procedure is accomplished with a catheter inserted through a small incision in the thigh or wrist. The catheter is guided by imagery to blood supply of the fibroid. The fibroid shrinks from particles released from the catheter.

The survey showed that many women are not hearing about the UFE procedures from doctors, although the treatments are as effective, less painful and have shorter recovery times. Only about two of five women have first heard about these fibroid treatments from a healthcare provider, according to this study.

Disadvantages of Hysterectomies

Hysterectomies are performed at a rate of 500,000 to 600,000 per year in the United States, according to various sources, including Gynecological Oncology.

When a woman undergoes fibroid symptoms — including bleeding between periods, heavy bleeding during periods or cramping during periods — she will often turn to her obstetrician-gynecologist, OBGYN, for treatment.

Almost one of five hysterectomies were conducted without evidence that they were necessary, suggested a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“This study provides evidence that alternatives to hysterectomy are underutilized in women undergoing hysterectomy for AUB (abnormal uterine bleeding). The rate of unsupported pathology when hysterectomies were done for these indications was 18%,” said researchers who analyzed pathology results at 52 hospitals in 2013.