For women with uterine fibroids, non-cancerous growths that cause pain and bleeding, there has not been an alternative treatment to the surgical removal of the uterus, a hysterectomy. At a medical conference in Washington, DC on March 11, doctors presented an alternative procedure called embolization that involves making a quarter-inch incision and using a catheter to cut off blood flow to the fibroid. For eight of ten patients on whom the procedure was performed symptoms improved significantly, and fibroids shrank to a third of their size. Another patient had a decrease of bleeding, and another eventually needed to get a hysterectomy. Mifepristone (formerly known as RU 486) is also being tested as a non-surgical method of treating uterine fibroids. See Feminist Majority Foundation Factsheets for more information
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