Why do women have hysterectomies? Do alternatives exist?
Hysterectomies are most often done for the following reasons: Uterine fibroids. Fibroids are common, benign (noncancerous) tumors that grow in the muscle of the uterus. More hysterectomies are done because of fibroids than any other problem of the uterus. Fibroids often cause no symptoms and need no treatment, and they usually shrink after menopause. But sometimes fibroids cause heavy bleeding or pain. There are alternatives to hysterectomy to treat fibroids, which may be especially important for younger women who hope to have children. Sometimes fibroids are treated with medicine or other treatments designed to shrink the fibroids. But, this is only temporary – when the medicine is stopped, the fibroids will grow again. A type of surgery to remove only the fibroids without removing the uterus is called a myomectomy. A relatively new procedure to shrink fibroids is called uterine artery embolization. It involves placing small plastic particles in the blood vessels feeding the fibroids.
