• More than 5 million women in the U.S. have symptomatic fibroids, yet only 300,000 of them have surgery each year.
    •  That means there are millions of women living uncomfortably with symptoms—often because they believe surgery is their only option after medical therapy. 
Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) offers an alternative, a nonsurgical therapy performed by VIRA’s interventional radiologists to effectively shrink and treat uterine fibroids. 
  • VIRA’s interventional radiologists (IR’s) will coordinate closely with your Ob-Gyn to explore whether you are a candidate for UFE which goes straight to the root of the fibroid problem without surgery.
Schedule your appointment to talk with
one of VIRA’s physicians now.
Call VIRA Today
  • More than 5 million women in the U.S. have symptomatic fibroids, yet only 300,000 of them have surgery each year.
    •  That means there are millions of women living uncomfortably with symptoms—often because they believe surgery is their only option after medical therapy. 
Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) offers a new alternative, a nonsurgical therapy performed by VIRA’s interventional radiologists to effectively shrink and treat uterine fibroids. 
  • VIRA’s interventional radiologists (IR’s) will coordinate closely with your Ob-Gyn to explore whether you are a candidate for UFE which goes straight to the root of the fibroid problem without surgery.

Schedule your appointment to talk with
one of VIRA’s physicians now.
Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), also known as uterine artery embolization (UAE), is a minimally invasive option that preserves the uterus and greatly reduces recovery
times compared to surgical procedures. 
UFE blocks the blood supply to fibroids, causing them to shrink. 
  • About 85-90% of women have significant relief or total resolution of fibroid symptoms such as heavy bleeding, pain or pressure, and other fibroid-related problems. 
  • Recurrence of fibroids following UFE is rare.
  • UFE is performed by an interventional radiologist (IR), a doctor who uses X-rays and other imaging techniques to see inside the body and treat conditions without surgery.
  • During UFE, the patient is kept comfortable with sedation and pain medication.
  •  The IR inserts a thin tube through a small incision in the skin of the groin. 
  • The small tube (catheter) is placed into the femoral artery and tiny microscopic particles (Embospheres®) are injected into the uterine arteries supplying blood to the uterus and to the fibroids. 
  •  The tiny particles injected into the arteries supplying the uterus starve the fibroids of the nutrients they need to grow. 
  • Over the next several months, the fibroids shrink and die.

The uterine fibroid embolization procedure generally takes about an hour in the interventional radiology room. When required, hospital stay is usually only one night during which the patient will receive pain medication and other drugs to treat any pain and cramping associated with the procedure. The patient is discharged with pain and anti-inflammatory medications. Most women resume light activity within a few days and return to work in 7 to 10 days.

Patient who are an ideal candidate for UFE include women who:
  • Have symptomatic fibroids
  • Do not intent to get pregnant in the future
  • Want to keep their uterus
  • Do not want surgery
  • Want a faster recovery time
  • May not be a good candidate for surgery.
While there are reports of women becoming pregnant after uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) and having successful pregnancies, there are no large definitive scientific study results establishing the safety of UFE on fertility and pregnancy. As with any medical intervention, you should discuss the most current clinical data before deciding on the fibroid treatment that is right for you. 
We will be glad to schedule an appointment with
one of VIRA’s interventional radiologists 
to determine if UFE is the best option for you.
478-757-8868
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OTHER FIBROID TREATMENT OPTIONS click to learn more:
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