Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE)
UAE is a specialized procedure that is performed to shrink fibroids, which are benign (non-cancerous) tumors in the uterine wall. Also known as myomas or leiomyomas, fibroids are frequently painful and can cause heavy menstrual bleeding.

If the fibroids are not causing symptoms, they do not need treatment. However, fibroids that are causing symptoms can be treated in several ways, including the traditional methods of hormone treatment or surgery. RAS patients now may take advantage of a new non-surgical procedure called uterine artery embolization (UAE).

With UAE, an interventional radiologist guides a small tube into the artery that supplies the fibroid and uses it to inject tiny beads to block the flow of blood to this area. When the blood supply is blocked, the fibroid loses its supply of oxygen and nutrients, causing it to shrink. That shrinkage relieves the symptoms for most patients.

Patient Information for Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE)

What to expect
The UAE procedure is performed in a hospital angiography suite by an interventional radiologist, a doctor with specialized medical training. You will lie on a small, movable table that has an X-ray machine below it and an X-ray camera mounted above it. The doctor uses this camera to monitor the catheter (the small tube) as it proceeds into the artery supplying the fibroid.

Because UAE is not painful, it does not require general anesthesia. Instead, it is performed under conscious sedation, which means that you will be drowsy but not sleeping.

The procedure, which takes about 45 minutes, does not require stitches and does not produce visible scarring.

Patient preparation
You'll be asked to fast for several hours before the procedure, You may take most of your usual medications as prescribed—with the exception of any blood-thinning medications, including aspirin and ibuprofen. You should abstain from taking such blood-thinning drugs for minimum of five days before your procedure. The week before your appointment, we will order a blood test.

Side effects and complications
Although UAE is a minimally invasive procedure and is not painful, you may experience some discomfort, including cramps, during the recovery period. Patients typically experience pelvic cramps for several days after uterine artery embolization, and possibly mild nausea and low-grade fever as well. The cramps are most severe during the first 24 hours after the procedure, but diminish rapidly during the next several days.

Follow-up care
You may spend one night in the hospital for pain management. When you leave the hospital the following day, you will be given a prescription for oral pain medication.

Most patients are able to return to their normal activities within 10 days after UAE, and recover fully from the effects of the procedure within about two weeks. Shrinkage of the fibroids and relief of the pain and pressure they caused usually occurs over a period of two to three months. The heavy bleeding that patients may have chronically experienced before undergoing UAE commonly diminishes during the first menstrual cycle following the procedure.