Inova Alexandria serves women with new fibroid treatment program

Fibroid Support for Women

Inova Alexandria Hospital (IAH) already offers individualized care for women; now, we are pleased to announce a new multidisciplinary fibroid treatment program led by Barry Rothman, MD, a gynecologist and Women’s Unit Medical Director, and Keith Sterling, MD, an interventional radiologist and Medical Director of the IAH Cardiovascular & Interventional Radiology Department. The program helps each patient decide on the best course of treatment.

Fibroid Treatment Options

Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths that develop in or just outside a woman’s uterus. One treatment method that preserves the uterus is a minimally invasive procedure called uterine artery embolization, or UAE. In this procedure, an interventional radiologists uses a small catheter, guiding it from the artery at the top of the leg into the uterine arteries. The doctor blocks the blood flow to each uterine fibroid, causing it to die and shrink. More than 80 percent of women who are evaluated are candidates for this procedure, and the success rate is greater than 90 percent.

Women typically spend one night in the hospital after this procedure and can resume their normal activities after five to seven days. “This is a very safe, durable and effective option for women who want to avoid surgery,” says Dr. Sterling.

Another treatment option is laparoscopic hysterectomy, which may be the answer for women who are done having children, Dr. Rothman says. The recovery time for this procedure is two to four weeks instead of four to eight weeks, as it is with a traditional hysterectomy.

The new fibroid program at IAH brings together all of the experts that evaluate and treat women with uterine fibroids using a patient-centered collaborative approach, Dr. Sterling says.

Learn more about Women’s Services at inova.org/IAHfibroids.