Is the MyoSure procedure right for me?
When considering a procedure like MyoSure, it is important for you to understand and consider all other treatment options available to you. Please carefully review the options listed below and discuss these options with your doctor to help determine if the MyoSure procedure is the right choice for you.
- Watchful waiting. Often, fibroids or polyps do not require treatment. Your doctor can monitor their size, and you can track to see if your symptoms change (such as your period gets heavy).
- Medication. Certain hormonal medications, including progestins and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, may shrink a fibroid or uterine polyp and lessen symptoms. But taking such medications is usually a short-term solution at best; symptoms typically recur once you stop taking the medicine. Taking a birth control pill can help lessen your heavy bleeding, but it will not reduce the size of your fibroid.
- Surgical management. Removing your fibroids is called a myomectomy. There are several different ways that your doctor can do this.
- Abdominal myomectomy - It is performed in a hospital, under general anesthesia. The surgeon cuts through the abdomen to reach the uterus, which is then opened up to cut out the fibroids. Recovery time from this procedure is typically about four to six weeks.
- Hysteroscopic myomectomy - The MyoSure® procedure is a hysteroscopic myomectomy. The MyoSure® tissue removal system is a simple procedure that eliminates fibroids without having to remove or even cut the uterus. Your doctor inserts an instrument into your uterus through the vagina that gently cuts away at the fibroid to take it out of your body. The MyoSure tissue removal system is designed to allow your doctor to remove any growths in your uterus without harming your uterine lining, so important should you want to have children in the future.
MyoSure is an outpatient procedure that allows you to go home the same day. On average, a 3 cm fibroid (about the size of a grape) can be removed in approximately 10 minutes.
There are three simple steps to the MyoSure procedure:
Step 1: Your doctor opens your cervix (the opening to the uterus) slightly by passing through the body's natural openings (i.e., through the vagina) and inserts a slender camera through your cervix and into your uterus allowing him or her to see inside.
Step 2: Your doctor passes a slender wand through your vagina into your uterus. The side of the wand gently cuts the fibroid or polyp into tiny pieces and suctions the removed tissue through a small open window into the wand and out of your body.
Step 3: Once the fibroid has been taken away, the wand is removed from the uterus. Nothing is left in your body after the procedure.
Recovery time from this type of myomectomy is typically two days.
Laparoscopic myomectomy - A small incision is made by the belly button and surgical instruments are used to remove the fibroid. Recovery time is typically two to seven days.
Uterine artery embolization - This is a procedure done by a radiologist. He or she injects particles into the blood vessels of the uterus, which stop the blood vessels from supplying the fibroids with blood flow. This causes the fibroids to shrink. Patients are typically in pain for several days after this procedure.
Hysterectomy - This refers to the surgical removal of the uterus. If you do not wish to have children in the future and your symptoms from your fibroids are severe, this may be an option for you. Recovery time is typically two to six weeks.
Watch how the MyoSure® procedure works to remove polyps.
