Women’s Excellence in Birmingham, Michigan has added NovaSure endometrial ablation to the range of gynecological services it offers. NovaSure provides a quick, safe, and simple procedure to lighten or stop women’s periods, without the potential side effects of hormone therapy or the invasiveness and risks associated with hysterectomy.

The endometrial ablation procedure can work to reduce or stop menstrual bleeding by removing the endometrium, or the lining of the uterus (the part that causes the bleeding), with a quick delivery of radio frequency energy.

NovaSure endometrial ablation is a proprietary radio frequency impedance-based technology that delivers a customized treatment to lighten or end a patient’s heavy menstrual bleeding. The NovaSure endometrial ablation procedure has the advantages of fast treatment time, no hormonal pretreatment requirement, and it can be performed at any time during a woman’s menstrual cycle – in the hospital operating room or in the doctor’s office.

A one-time, five-minute procedure that gently removes the lining of the uterus, the NovaSure Endometrial Ablation procedure can reduce or stop bleeding altogether.

After 14 years of treating AUB with minimally invasive, safe, non-hormonal treatment, the NovaSure endometrial ablation procedure has a track record of time-tested and durable results. The proven high rate of success, amenorrhea, and patient satisfaction rate among the two million women treated are supported by a body of long-standing, extensive, prospective clinical data.

The below data supplied by NovaSure is representative of over 700 subjects in ten prospective studies, six single-arm NovaSure trials and four randomized controlled trials which were reviewed for amenorrhea rate, success rate and patient satisfaction. The follow-up period for these measures was 12 months. Studies were chosen based on similar protocols and endpoints.

The data show that NovaSure endometrial ablation system:

• Offers a consistent depth of ablation, regardless of endometrial thickness, customized to uterine cavity size
• Has a proactive safety check prior to procedure to assess cavity integrity
• Requires no pretreatment and is not cycle dependent

Safety And Comfort:

• A safe, comfortable procedure in either the OR or office setting
• Average 90-second treatment time
• No uterine distention

Seventy-three percent of patients in one pivotal trial received IV or local sedation. Post-procedural pain and cramping rates:

• 97% of patients experienced no procedural pain at less than 24 hours
• 99% of patients experienced no procedural pain from 24 hours to two weeks

A ten-year literature review to find prospective, long term data on the NovaSure procedure’s amenorrhea and patient satisfaction rates can be downloaded at:

http://www.novasure.com/hcp/get-aggregate-data

Endometriosis is an often-painful disorder of unknown cause occurs when cells of tissue that normally forms the lining of the uterus — the endometrium — migrates to grow in a location outside of the uterus, most commonly in other organs of the pelvis: ovaries, vagina, cervix, bladder, bowels, rectum or the tissue lining the pelvis.

While the cause of endometriosis.is unknown, some researchers think it is an autoimmune disorder. It also tends to run in families, so an element of heritability may be in play.

Risk factors for endometriosis include having a mother or sister with endometriosis, early onset of menses, never having had children, frequent periods or menstruation lasting seven or more days, having a closed hymen, which blocks the flow of menstrual blood during the period.

Pelvic pain is the primary endometriosis.symptom , with pain in the lower abdomen before and during periods, cramping for a week or two before and during menses, pain during or following sexual intercourse, painful bowel movements, pelvic or low back pain. Pain intensity varies, with some women who have a lot of tissue in their pelvis experiencing no pain at all, while some women with milder cases of the disease have severe pain.

Besides radio frequency impedance-based endometrial ablation, treatments for endometriosis may include exercise and relaxation techniques, painkillers — OTC or prescription, hormone therapy, and surgery in cases of severe pain that does not respond to less invasive treatments, with removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and both ovaries (a hysterectomy) being the best chance for a cure.

Women’s Excellence notes that menstrual pain and pelvic pain can be caused by a range of factors, and pain due to endometriosis is often associated with similar symptoms such as cyclic pain with periods (increased pain at the same time of the menstrual cycle each month) painful intercourse, irregular bleeding and pelvic pressure.

However, they note that endometriosis is the most common finding associated with pain in women of reproductive age, is arguably the most common cause of pelvic pain, and moreover deserves most of the bad press it receives. In many cases, endometriosis causes pain associated with the menstrual cycle but other symptoms can be a result of endometriosis. Women’s Excellence points out that endometriosis pain can be frequently localized by the patient to the pelvic area that is involved by the disease. Some patients can describe exactly where their disease is by the nature and location of their pain.

Women’s Excellence offers a comprehensive range of obstetric and gynecologic services in Michigan including menopause management, weight control, bladder control, endometriosis, robotic surgery, pelvic floor physical therapy, and midwifery services. The physicians and healthcare providers of Womens Excellence are taking new patients and are located in four locations throughout southeastern Michigan: Birmingham, Lake Orion, Clarkston and Metamora. For more information, visit http://www.womensexcellence.com.

Sources:
NovaSure
Womens Excellence
National Library of Medicine PubMed
MedLine Plus
Mayo Clinic