More than one in four American women will have a hysterectomy by the time they are 60 years old. While hysterectomy can be a life-saving surgery for women with certain types of cancer (e.g. endometrial or cervical) or uterine hemorrhage, there are many alternatives for treating benign uterine conditions.

New Technologies, More Options
Anaheim Memorial Medical Center offers an array of advanced gynecological procedures as alternatives to hysterectomy.

The advantages to these less invasive procedures
may include:

• Lower risk
• Quicker recovery
• Reduced expense
• Fertility preservation
  (myomectomy and embolization)

Hysteroscopy
This procedure enables a physician to examine and treat the inside of the uterus via a thin, fiber optic scope, without an abdominal incision. It is frequently combined with other treatments. An outpatient procedure, hysteroscopy usually takes 30 to 45 minutes and can be done without general anesthesia.

Endometrial Ablation
A minimally invasive procedure using heat, cold, electrical energy or laser beams, endometrial ablation has been proven to minimize or even stop abnormal uterine bleeding in many women. Ablation is an outpatient procedure that can be performed without general anesthesia, typically in less than 20 minutes. Recovery occurs within few days to one week.

Up to 95% of women treated with endometrial ablation reported decreased bleeding, and approximately 93% were satisfied with their results. Seven out of 10 patients avoided any further intervention.*

Anaheim Memorial is currently the only hospital in Orange County to have acquired Boston Scientfic’s Hydro ThermAblator (HTA)®, a state-of-the-art endometrial ablation system that provides our physicians with a clear, direct view of the uterine cavity throughout the procedure.

Myomectomy
If a woman wishes to preserve her fertility, myomectomy is a viable option, in which individual fibroids are removed, sparing the uterus. Proven to decrease menstrual bleeding and pelvic pain, myomectomy can be performed using several different methods, including hysteroscopy and laparoscopy, depending on the size and location of the fibroids. Healthy pregnancies are common following myomectomy.*

Embolization
Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) is a non-surgical, uterus sparing procedure for symptomatic fibroids. UFE blocks the blood supply to the fibroid, causing it to shrink. Requiring only a small nick in the skin, UFE usually takes less than one hour, and most patients are back to work within a week to ten days. Following UFE, fibroids shrink an average of 48 to 78%. Most women experience a significant reduction in symptoms.**

References:
* Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, AORN Journal
** Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology