Symptomatic uterine fibroids are often cured by a hysterectomy, the removal of a woman’s uterus and the fibroids growing within it. While this may be a treatment option for post menopausal women, there are many women who want effective treatment without loosing their ability to bear children. Uterine Artery Embolization is a procedure that can do just that.

Now, an old technique is providing women who suffer from uterine fibroids a nonsurgical treatment alternative. Physicians have used embolization for more than two decades to treat pelvic bleeding and trauma, and now they are using the procedure to shrink uterine fibroids too.

A recent study published in the Journal of Roentgenology reported on pregnancies and their outcome after uterine artery embolization for symptomatic uterine fibroids.

From 2001 to 2004, 102 patients (mean age, 35.7 years; range, 20–48 years) with symptomatic uterine fibroids underwent uterine artery embolization.

Most women have no symptoms. That is why most patients with fibroids do not know they have them. When symptoms do develop, they may include:

Anemia (as a result of heavy periods)
Discomfort in the lower abdomen (especially if fibroids are large)
Heavy painful periods

UFE or uterine artery embolization (UAE) is a non-surgical treatment alternative to hysterectomy that takes less than one hour to complete. First performed in 1994, more than 50,000 women worldwide have been treated with the procedure.