By Our Reporter
International Hospital Kampala (IHK) has had the first successful Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE). The procedure was led by Dr. Josiais Padi from Merit International South Africa and Dr. Hassan Kabiito from IHK on Saturday, 22nd January 2022,.
In a press statement, Dr Kabiito said, “Many patients hold the myth the surgery is the only treatment option of resolving fibroids but In Uganda, we now have a purely non-surgical procedure, minimally invasive with faster recovery. If you have symptomatic fibroids, this procedure is a viable option.”
“This is a new unique procedure which is an alternative to the commonly known surgery to remove fibroids (myomectomy). Embolization means targeted cutting off of blood supply to a particular part of the body.” He added.
“Uterine fibroid embolization typically provides significant relief of symptoms of uterine fibroids. Your menstrual period may continue on its normal schedule and if they are heavy, they will normalize. The fibroids shrink and are tracked on serial scans upon review. The length of time it takes for the fibroids to shrink depends on their size.” Dr Kabiito concluded.
The success rate for this treatment is about 98 per cent but there is a small percentage of women whose fibroids cannot be killed with UFE because they have an additional blood supply from the ovarian arteries in addition to the uterine artery.