Treatment is dependent on whether the fibroids are affecting the woman's quality of life e.g. heavy menstrual bleeding, severe pain, anemia etc.
If removal is required, surgical options include hysteroscopic surgery, laparoscopic surgery, and for some cases, open surgery. The type of surgery performed will be dependent on the assessment done by the gynaecologist to determine the nature and location of the fibroids.
Hysteroscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure that is done trans-vaginally to remove the fibroids. It can be done as a day surgery. As there are no incisions made, the recovery rate is usually very high as there are no scars in the abdomen.
Laparoscopic surgery is another minimally invasive surgical option where a few small incisions are made on the abdomen. Thin surgical instruments are inserted through the incisions to remove the fibroids and the incisions are stitched up after.
The recovery rate of this procedure is also very fast since only small incisions of 5-10 mm are made on the abdomen. In some instances, it is even possible to perform single incision myomectomy that will minimize scarring and post operative pain.
Alternatively, there is an advanced non-invasive, non-surgical therapy called High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). This is a day surgery procedure that uses Real time ultrasound and high-intensity ultrasound waves to target individual fibroids to destroy the cells and shrink them.
Hope this helps.
Dr Fong Yoke Fai
