Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors of female reproductive organs, mostly found in women aged 30–50 years old, with an incidence of about 20%–25% of women of childbearing age, of which the incidence in women aged 40–50 years old is as high as 51.2%–60%. The incidence of fibroids is about 20% – 25% of women of childbearing age, and the incidence rate of women aged 40 – 50 is as high as 51.2% – 60%. In the early stages of fibroids, most of them are asymptomatic and are often detected during women’s screening or ultrasound examinations. If the growth of fibroids affects the morphology of the uterine cavity or changes in the endometrial area, or if they are submucosal fibroids, or if they grow in special places (such as the cervix or broad ligament), or if they are large and grow too fast, they can cause a series of clinical symptoms, the most common of which are
1. Menstrual changes.
When myoma makes the uterine cavity bigger, the endometrial area increases, the uterus contraction is poor or the endometrial hyperplasia is too long, or submucosal myoma, it can be manifested as prolonged menstruation and excessive menstruation, and untimely treatment can lead to anemia.
2. Abdominal mass.
When the fibroid is large or growing too fast, the mass can often be felt in the middle of the abdomen, with a hard texture, especially in the early morning when the bladder is full.
3. Increased leucorrhea.
The interstitial fibroids increase the area of the uterine cavity and increase the secretion of endometrial glands, accompanied by pelvic congestion, resulting in increased leucorrhea. If it is submucosal myoma, its surface is easily infected and necrotic, producing a large amount of purulent secretion with foul smell.
4. Urination and defecation abnormalities.
If the myoma is large or grows in the cervix and broad ligament, clinical symptoms of squeezing the adjacent organs of the pelvis may appear, such as constipation, frequent urination, increased residual urine, ureteral displacement, hydronephrosis, etc.
5. Low back pain and abdominal pain.
It is common to have lower abdominal cramps, lower back pain, etc. Some special cases may have acute pain, such as twisting of myoma with tip, or red degeneration of myoma during pregnancy, which may be accompanied by fever.
6. Infertility.
According to the literature, about 25% – 40% of women have infertility due to myoma pressing or distorting the fallopian tubes, which affects the normal function of the tubes, or myoma causing deformation of the uterine cavity and preventing the fertilized egg from being laid.
Although drugs can reduce the effect of fibroids, the recurrence rate is high after stopping the drugs. Although myomectomy is more effective than drugs, there is still a possibility of recurrence, and the adhesions caused by open abdomen often increase the difficulty of treating recurrent lesions again. Although surgical removal of the whole uterus can cure the disease at once, the patient loses the reproductive function and other physiological functions of the uterus after surgery, which also has a greater psychological impact on the patient, and it has been reported in the literature at home and abroad that even if the ovaries are preserved after hysterectomy, premature ovarian failure can occur, causing women to enter menopause early. At present, it is a direction of development to adopt non-invasive treatment with less physiological and psychological impact for patients with fibroids of reproductive age.
A non-invasive treatment method for tumors is called “new technology for non-invasive treatment of tumors in the 21st century” by domestic and foreign experts – high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy (also known as focused ultrasound knife), and China’s research in this field is in the forefront of the world. The introduction and clinical application of ultrasound knife is a revolution in the field of non-invasive treatment. It has changed the traditional tumor treatment method and made the local treatment of tumor from invasive surgery and interventional treatment directly into the frontier of non-invasive treatment, providing a brand new equipment and means for modern tumor treatment, strongly promoting the development of tumor-related disciplines and establishing the status of thermotherapy in tumor treatment.
Advantages of ultrasonic knife treatment.
1. Exact efficacy and no risk of surgery. During the treatment, the imaging changes of the tissues after receiving HIFU treatment are monitored by real-time monitoring system, and the histological section of the pathology is coagulative ring death, which is a radical or volumetric “resection” method of tumor with definite efficacy.
2. Non-invasive and safe treatment. The patient is awake during the treatment, no pain or slight pain can be tolerated, no anesthesia is needed, there is no bleeding, infection and obvious perioperative risk, and there is no cumulative dose limitation for thermal therapy.
3. Real-time monitoring, three-dimensional positioning, small error. The treatment deviation is < ±0.5mm, so the treatment range is precise and the effect is good.
4.Easy treatment and cost saving. Before the operation, patients only do relevant examination and laboratory tests in the outpatient clinic without hospitalization, and the treatment time is about 1 hour, and the actual time of receiving ultrasonic knife treatment is less than 30 minutes, and patients can go home by themselves after treatment without obvious discomfort. Therefore, it greatly reduces the cost of hospitalization and other treatment for patients and eliminates the trouble of care after the hospitalization surgery.
5.Uterus preservation, no pain of radiotherapy, no removal of the uterus.
6.Advanced technology and high degree of automation. The advanced treatment equipment makes the safety and effectiveness of treatment favorably guaranteed, and the treatment process is completely programmed and automated. It can adjust the dose and time of treatment at any time according to the patient’s condition.