Fibroid Treatment

Fibroids are the very common non-cancerous tumors of the wall of the uterus. They are typically slow-growing tumors. If they grow within the wall of the uterus, they are called intramural. If they grow towards this cavity, they are called sub-mucosal And if they grow towards the outside, then they are called sub-serosal.

They can be single or multiple. They can be very small or they can be very large. They can continue to grow and produce pressure symptoms. And the risk of cancer transformation is about 1 in 200. Some genes are implicated in their causation and they are hormone-dependent tumors.

SYMPTOMS

Sometimes they can produce no symptoms at all or they can lead to symptoms based on their size and location, which can include heavy and Painful periods, pressure symptoms like frequent urination and chronic constipation. Rarely, they can lead to difficulty in conception and during pregnancy, if there are large fibroids, they can lead to miscarriages, preterm birth or less growth of the baby.

DIAGNOSIS

In terms of diagnosis, they can be diagnosed easily by clinical examination to find an enlarged uterus. Ultrasound is confirmatory in most of the cases. The typical appearance can be seen. The size, site and number of fibroids can be noted. MRI may be required in certain circumstances. Particularly, if we are planning fibroid removal surgery.

TREATMENT

Treatment depends upon what is the number of fibroids,  the size of fibroids, the location of fibroids, age of the patient and whether she is planning to have more children, and what are the symptoms she is facing.

The treatment can vary from no treatment, medical management to treat heavy menstrual bleeding, and minimally invasive procedures like Mirena to treat heavy menstrual bleeding, or surgical procedures like myomectomy, which means removal of the fibroid alone, or hysterectomy, which means removal of the uterus along with the fibroids.

Hope this has helped you to understand better Understanding the disease process and helps you deal with the disease better.