05/10/2002
(HARTFORD, Conn.) -- Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center is now offering a new treatment option to women with menorrhagia, or excessive menstrual bleeding, in selected cases. Uterine balloon therapy is an alternative to hysterectomy -- the surgical removal of the uterus. Previously, laser and electrical current surgical ablation therapies had been the only alternatives to hysterectomy. The new minimally invasive procedure leaves the uterus intact while heat is applied to eliminate the endometrial lining, the primary source of excessive menstrual bleeding.
"What sets this new technique apart from other existing thermal ablation procedures is a balloon filled with a heated sterile solution," said Maria Ellis, M.D., an attending obstetrician/gynecologist at Saint Francis. "It allows us to treat the lining of the uterus more quickly than is possible with a laser or an electrical current, and it is equally effective."
During the procedure, a balloon catheter is inserted through the cervix into the uterus. The balloon is then inflated with a sterile solution that is heated to 188 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes, then deflated, withdrawn and discarded. Patients typically resume their normal activities the next day.
"This is a relatively uncomplicated outpatient procedure," explained Dr. Ellis. "It can be performed in about eight minutes under local anesthesia."
In contrast, a traditional hysterectomy takes about 90 minutes under general anesthesia, followed by a three- to four-day period of hospitalization and a six- to eight-week recovery period at home.
Excessive menstrual bleeding is a sometimes debilitating condition that affects approximately 22 percent of all menstruating women, and it accounts for more than 30 percent of the 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year in the United States. In addition, excessive menstrual bleeding is a common cause of iron deficiency anemia.
ThermaChoice Uterine Balloon Therapy� was approved in December by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of excessive menstrual bleeding due to benign causes in pre-menopausal women who have completed childbearing. Equipment for the procedure was developed by the Gynecare division of Ethicon, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company headquartered in Somerville, N.J.
Founded in 1897, Saint Francis is licensed for 617 acute inpatient beds and 65 bassinets and is the largest Catholic hospital in New England.
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