Myomectomy Fibroid tumors develop in the fibrous and muscular tissue of the uterus. Often a woman with fibroids suspects nothing until a gynecologist detects the tumors during a pelvic examination. An ultrasound is used to confirm the diagnosis. Although treatment was once limited to hysterectomy, today more and more doctors are performing myomectomies to remove the fibroids surgically while leaving the uterus intact. Both laparoscopy and hysteroscopy are outpatient procedures, followed by a week-long recovery period.
Abdominal surgery is a more invasive option, requiring a hospital stay and a longer recovery period.
Although fibroids can return within five years of myomectomy, these procedures can be repeated or the patient might be closer to menopause at that point. Not every woman with fibroids needs treatment. If the tumors are not causing pain, and if they are not too large, they simply need to be checked during regular appointments with a gynecologist. When Sandra Jenkins chose to have a myomectomy, it was after a lifetime of difficult periods. Although she felt that her symptoms were unusual, no one drew the connection between the painful periods and the possibility of fibroid tumors until coming to a Pennsylvania Hospital physician.