Small particles are injected into the arteries, which blocks the blood flow to the fibroids. It was discovered that after the embolization, while awaiting surgery, many patient's symptoms went away and surgery was no longer needed. At Georgetown, we have been performing this procedure for over a year and we are now engaged in a number of studies to evaluate the long-term outcome of this procedure. The procedure takes about an hour and is done as an outpatient or with an overnight admission. The patient is sedated and very sleepy during the procedure.
Local anesthesia is used, and, as a result, there is no pain during the procedure.
The uterine arteries are most easily accessed from the femoral artery, which is at the crease at the top of the leg. Initially an arteriogram is performed to provide a road map for the placement of the catheter in the uterine arteries. These particles are about the size of grains of sand. Because fibroids are very vascular, the particles flow to the fibroids first. Over several minutes the arteries are slowly blocked.