Uterine Fibroids in Gurugram

Benign growths of the muscular wall of the uterus. They are not cancer, they are hormone-sensitive, and they range from a few millimetres to very large. You can have one or many. They are extremely common - screening studies have found them in around 70% of women by the age of 50, and more than half of those women had no symptoms at all.

No. Fibroids are benign. The chance that something thought to be a fibroid turns out to be a sarcoma is small, with published estimates ranging from roughly 1 in 350 to 1 in 8,000 depending on study design, and the most rigorous prospective data sitting at the reassuring end. It is not zero, which is why tissue removed at surgery is always sent for histology.

No, and the related belief that rapid growth means cancer does not hold up either. Benign fibroids grow at very variable rates, so growth alone is a poor way to tell them apart. What does deserve prompt assessment is a fibroid appearing or clearly growing after the menopause, or any bleeding after the menopause.

Heavy or prolonged periods, tiredness and breathlessness from the resulting anaemia, pressure symptoms such as passing urine frequently or difficulty emptying the bladder, pain, and sometimes difficulty conceiving. But the commonest situation by far is no symptoms at all.

No. Most never need an operation. Guidelines specifically endorse simply watching a fibroid that is not causing symptoms, and among women who choose that, bleeding, haemoglobin and fibroid size do not change meaningfully over a year. A repeat scan at 6 to 12 months is usually all that is needed.

No. There is no size threshold at which surgery becomes compulsory. The old teaching that a uterus the size of a 12-week pregnancy required a hysterectomy was examined properly decades ago and the evidence behind it was found to be very thin. Current guidance conditions surgery on symptoms rather than measurements. Indian guidance does suggest that a uterus at or above 14 weeks' size should prompt a discussion of the options - but that is a trigger for a conversation, not an instruction to operate.

It is a number from 0 to 8 describing where a fibroid sits. Types 0, 1 and 2 are submucosal - inside or bulging into the cavity. Types 3 and 4 are inside the muscle wall. Types 5, 6 and 7 grow outwards. Type 8 covers unusual locations such as the cervix. It matters because position determines what a fibroid does to you and which treatments can reach it. A 2 cm fibroid inside the cavity can cause far more trouble than an 8 cm one growing outwards.

It is incomplete for planning treatment. A useful report gives the number of fibroids, the size of each, and the FIGO type of each. If yours does not, it is entirely reasonable to ask for that, and a saline infusion scan or hysteroscopy can settle the question when ultrasound alone cannot.

Submucosal ones, which sit inside or bulge into the cavity. In one series, 75% of women with submucosal fibroids were anaemic, against 59% with intramural fibroids and 37% with subserosal ones. It is the clearest illustration of why position matters more than size.

Often, yes. Tranexamic acid taken during your period and anti-inflammatories both reduce menstrual blood loss without touching the fibroid. A hormonal coil reduces bleeding substantially and is recommended as a first treatment where fibroids are small and the cavity is not distorted. Hormonal tablets have a role. Uterine artery embolisation is a non-surgical procedure that shrinks fibroids by cutting off their blood supply.

No. It treats the bleeding without changing the fibroid. In one study of women with fibroids inside the cavity, bleeding scores fell by 88% at a year with no measurable change in fibroid or uterine volume. It is also less reliable when fibroids are present, and it should not be used where the cavity is distorted, because it will be expelled.

Removal of a fibroid through the cervix, using a thin telescope, with no cuts on the abdomen and no stitches. It applies to fibroids inside the cavity - FIGO types 0, 1 and 2 - generally up to about 4 to 5 cm in experienced hands. It is recommended as first-line treatment for symptomatic intracavitary fibroids, and it is the most under-offered option in Indian practice.

A myomectomy removes the fibroids and leaves the uterus in place. A hysterectomy removes the uterus. Myomectomy is the operation for women who want to preserve fertility or simply keep their uterus, and it can usually be done laparoscopically. Hysterectomy is definitive - fibroids cannot come back - but it is one option among several and rarely the first.

New fibroids can develop later, because myomectomy removes the fibroids you have rather than the tendency to form them. That is a genuine trade-off against hysterectomy and worth discussing openly. Regular follow-up picks up any new growth early.

A radiological procedure that blocks the blood supply to the fibroids so they shrink. It avoids surgery, preserves the uterus, and has a shorter recovery. Over ten years, about two thirds of women who have it avoid a hysterectomy. The honest trade-off is that more women need a further procedure afterwards than after surgery, and it is generally not the first choice if you are planning a pregnancy.

Usually not. The ones that matter for fertility are those distorting the inside of the uterus, where an embryo needs to implant. Fibroids growing outwards generally do not affect fertility, and removing them for that reason is not supported by good evidence. Fortunately, the fibroids that do matter are also the easiest to remove, through the cervix.

It might be, if it is distorting the cavity. A fibroid inside the cavity is one of the structural causes worth excluding after repeated pregnancy loss. One growing outwards is unlikely to be responsible. The assessment is the same as for recurrent miscarriage generally - a proper look at the uterine cavity is part of it.

It depends on which operation you had and how deep the repair into the uterine wall was. Indian guidance suggests pregnancy may generally be planned about three months after a myomectomy, but this is a decision for the surgeon who performed your operation, not a universal rule.

They usually do, because they are hormone-sensitive and oestrogen levels fall. That is one reason a woman close to the menopause with tolerable symptoms may reasonably decide to wait rather than operate. It is also why a fibroid that appears or grows after the menopause is the one situation that needs prompt assessment rather than watchful waiting.

For an asymptomatic fibroid, usually nothing. This is a legitimate and guideline-endorsed choice, not neglect. What it involves is a repeat scan in 6 to 12 months and a clear understanding of which symptoms should bring you back sooner. \u201cWhat happens if I do nothing for six months?\u201d is one of the most useful questions you can ask any doctor recommending surgery.

Not on that reasoning alone. Fibroids grow at very variable and unpredictable rates, many barely change, and most shrink after the menopause. Operating on a symptomless fibroid to prevent a hypothetical future problem means accepting a definite risk today to avoid an uncertain one later. If the fibroid is causing symptoms, that is a different conversation entirely.

Consultation, examination and all the decision-making happen at the clinic, at Sector 51 or Sector 56. Scans are arranged by referral. Surgery is carried out as day care or a short stay at NABH-accredited hospitals in Gurugram, hysteroscopically or laparoscopically wherever possible.

Yes, and it is actively welcomed. Bring every scan report you have, including old ones - comparing scans over time tells us about growth in a way a single scan cannot. Fibroid surgery is very rarely urgent, which means there is almost always time to be sure.

Every scan report you have, including old ones, and the actual images if you have them rather than only the typed report. Recent blood tests if you have them, because anaemia is common and worth correcting whatever else is decided. And a note of what your periods are actually like - how many days, how often you change protection, and what you have had to stop doing because of them.