More than 20 to 35% of women worldwide struggle with adenomyosis, affecting their uterus and causing painful periods. The gynecologic condition leads to endometrial tissue growth in the uterus’s muscular wall and damages the womb.
While adenomyosis is not a benign condition, severe pelvic pain and heavy menstrual bleeding can negatively impact a woman’s quality of life and fertility. Below, we’ll explore the different surgical treatments to manage this condition:
Who Experiences Adenomyosis?
Adenomyosis commonly affects middle-aged women and women with children. In addition, studies reveal that uterine surgeries can increase the risk of adenomyosis.
While the cause of adenomyosis is yet to be confirmed, most experts cite hormonal imbalance, including estrogen, progesterone, and follicle-stimulating hormones, as the driver.
How Do Doctors Surgically Treat and Manage Adenomyosis?
When your healthcare provider suspects adenomyosis, they’ll question your health history and conduct numerous diagnostic tests. Once confirmed, the doctor will discuss the following surgical treatments to treat the gynecologic condition:
Hysterectomy
If you experience severe pain and medications don’t work, healthcare professionals will suggest a hysterectomy to remove the uterus. While adenomyosis is non-cancerous, the fingerlike projections of tissues can diffuse and line the internal uterine line.
Thus, a hysterectomy allows your healthcare provider to remove the uterus or the cervix and uterus to alleviate the symptoms of adenomyosis. Your doctor will not remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes and may perform the surgery abdominally or vaginally.
Uterine Artery Embolization
It is a minimally invasive surgery for shrinking fibroids. During this treatment, a radiologist introduces tiny particles into your body to block blood vessels supporting adenomyosis growth.
The healthcare professional will guide the particles with the help of a tube inserted into your femoral artery, promoting adenomyosis shrinkage.
Adenomyomectomy
During an adenomyomectomy, your doctor will remove the adenomyosis tissues from the uterine muscles. The procedure is similar to removing uterine fibroids and can eliminate adenomyosis risk.
Endometrial Ablation
Women who are against a hysterectomy can choose endometrial ablation involving heat to destroy the uterine lining. While this surgery can minimize heavy menstrual bleeding and the associated pain, it does not treat adenomyosis’s underlying issues.
As a result, the myometrium tissues remain intact, making endometrial ablation an unreliable solution.
Is There Any Cure for Adenomyosis?
Non-surgical treatments, including medications and minimally invasive surgeries, can help manage adenomyosis. However, the only definitive cure is surgery to remove the uterus or the uterus and cervix through hysterectomy.
Your doctor will offer a suitable treatment plan and proceed only with your consent.
The Bottom Line
If you experience heavy menstrual bleeding and cramping before menopause or an enlarged uterus post-menopause, you may have adenomyosis. You can visit your gynecologist or healthcare provider to discuss symptoms and the diagnostic criteria.
With an accurate diagnosis, you and your healthcare professional can create a treatment plan that suits your unique needs. If women don’t treat adenomyosis, the growths in the uterine lining can increase infertility and miscarriage risks and cause chronic pelvic or lower back pain.
Sources
https://www.webmd.com/women/adenomyosis-symptoms-causes-treatments
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/adenomyosis
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adenomyosis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20369143