Endometrial Ablation In the 1990s, if medical therapies failed to control HMB, a hysterectomy was the only definitive surgical option available. Since then, a number of surgical options have been developed. Endometrial ablation destroys and removes the endometrium novel along with the superficial myometrium. First-generation endometrial ablation involved distending the uterine cavity with fluid and resecting the tissue with an electrosurgical loop. Second-generation methods use thermal balloon endometrial ablation (TBEA), microwave endometrial ablation (MEA), hydrothermablation, bipolar radiofrequency (RF) endometrial ablation, and endometrial cryotherapy. In comparison with first-generation methods, the second-generation methods do not need to be carried out under direct uterine visualization and tend to be easier to learn.
A 2004 systematic review consisting of 2 reviews and 10 RCTs examined the safety and effectiveness of MEA and TBEA for HMB; the rate of amenorrhea 1 year after treatment ranged between 36% and 40% for MEA and between 10% and 40% for TBEA.19 Uterine Artery Embolization In women in whom fibroids are the cause of the HMB, two further surgical options are available: uterine artery embolization (UAE) and myomectomy. UAE is usually performed by an interventional radiologist on a sedated patient. It involves injecting small polyvinyl particles into the uterine arteries through a catheter that is inserted via the femoral artery; this causes the eventual blockage of the feeding capillaries associated with the myoma.
The eventual loss of the blood supply to the fibroids causes them to shrink, thereby allowing us to treat the cause of the HMB. Myomectomy, on the other hand, involves the surgical removal of fibroids and can be done by laparotomy, laparoscopy, or hysteroscopically. UAE is often preferred over myomectomy as it is a quicker procedure and is associated with a shorter hospital stay. A recent systematic review, however, favored myomectomy to UAE as the rates of re-intervention were fewer when compared with UAE.20 A further cohort study analyzed the outcomes associated with myomectomy versus UAE; at 14 months, a greater reduction in menorrhagia was seen in the UAE group (92%) compared with the myomectomy group (64%).21 Hysterectomy Although the most radical form of management of HMB, hysterectomy does provide a definitive cure for menorrhagia.
It involves the surgical removal of the uterus. Until approximately the 1990s, hysterectomy was considered as the only viable surgical treatment for HMB. Because of the morbidities associated with a hysterectomy, the permanent repercussions of the surgery, and its cost to the National Health Service, there is a strong incentive to reduce the Drug_discovery number of hysterectomies performed and to encourage conservative modes of treatment such as the LNG-IUS, endometrial ablation, and UAE as management options for HMB.