Uterine fibroid intervention

  In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice underwent a fibroid embolization procedure under local anesthesia at Georgetown University Hospital and was discharged in good condition after a one-night hospital stay for observation. Dr. Spies, the attending physician, said in a post-operative interview that everything was fine so far, and that it was a routine procedure with proven techniques.  The 50-year-old Rice’s uterine smooth muscle tumor, referred to as uterine fibroids, is the most common benign gynecologic tumor, known as the “first tumor of women”, and is most likely to occur in women between the ages of 30 and 50 during their childbearing years. There are various treatment options, including hysterectomy and myomectomy. The procedure chosen for Ms. Rice is called “uterine artery embolization”, which is a type of vascular intervention. This is a new and mature treatment for fibroids, in which a small, rice-sized incision is made with a needle at the base of one thigh, and a special catheter is used to embolize the blood supplying artery of the fibroid to cause ischemia, hypoxia, and necrosis and absorption.  The reason why Rice accepted this method is for its own reasons: 1, love of beauty nature: Rice is now President Bush’s Secretary of State, representing the image of the United States, inevitably have higher requirements on the image, not to mention the love of beauty is the nature of women. Modern research has found that the uterus as the most important organ of women in addition to the well-known fertility function and menstrual function, but also has important endocrine function, pelvic floor structure support function and immune function.  2, high demand for quality of life: the uterus is anatomically located in the center of the pelvic floor and is connected to the pelvic wall through ligaments, playing a role in fixing the pelvic floor structure. A good pelvic floor structure is an important factor to ensure that the pelvic organs are fixed in place. When the pelvic floor structure is damaged, prolapse of internal organs can occur, most commonly in women, vaginal laxity and urinary incontinence due to bladder prolapse.  Compared with traditional surgical treatment, uterine artery embolization for uterine fibroids has the advantages of precise efficacy, small trauma, no incision, quick recovery, low recurrence rate, and preservation of uterus.