The diagnosis of a fibroid can sometimes lead to alienation: a growth in your uterus? Yet fibroids are much more common than you think. An estimated 1.8 million Dutch women are affected by it. In addition, there are about half a million Dutch women with one or more polyps in the uterus. There was once a questionable tendency in the medical world to ruthlessly remove female organs, especially once the childbearing age has passed. That trend has been reversed in the knowledge that female organs form a delicate system that affects the entire body. Another trend in the medical world is the search for less invasive treatments. An example is Myosure, aimed at removing fibroids and polyps without having to cut into the uterus itself. How and what? Read more. The diagnosis of ‘fibroid’ can sometimes lead to alienation. A growth in your uterus? Yet the diagnosis is a lot more common than you think. Especially because not everyone develops complaints of fibroids, a large proportion of cases remain in fact invisible. This is evident from the figures. It is estimated that no fewer than 1.8 million women in the Netherlands have fibroids, in medical terms ‘myomas’, in the uterus. But only a fraction of this number of women actually suffer from it. This number amounts to approximately 350,000 women.

Polyps and fibroids

In addition to fibroids, women can also have polyps in the uterus. It is estimated that this concerns more than half a million Dutch women. Here too, only a limited number of women with polyps in the uterus actually have complaints: this concerns approximately 150,000 women.

What’s that doing there?

One of the main complaints caused by fibroids and polyps is menstrual irregularities. For example, you can have an abnormally painful period, but also unusually heavy menstrual bleeding. 

To cut or not to cut

An important medical trend is – fortunately – the search for ways to make interventions less stressful. In addition, there is a growing tendency not to simply remove or damage female organs. While in the past, in medical science, the uterus was removed for convenience, especially at a later age, if a fibroid was discovered, because you would no longer become pregnant anyway, but there has now been a growing realization that the female body is a sensitive system of hormonal and organ-related processes. and that conservation wherever possible is the message.

Myosure: removal without cutting

An example of such a trend in medical treatments is the MyoSure treatment. This revolves around removing fibroids and polyps without the surgeon cutting into the uterus. MyoSure offers a good chance that the uterus can be preserved. Moreover, the uterine wall is not affected, so the chance of pregnancy does not disappear with the polyp or fibroid. After treatment, complaints related to fibroids and/or polyps, such as extremely painful menstruation, are expected to normalize.

Uterine clinic

Richard Pal of the Franciscus Hospital in Roosendaal is one of the first gynecologists in the Netherlands to perform the MyoSure treatment. Pal is also one of the people behind the website www.baar Moederpoli.nl. This website provides the (prospective) patient with extensive information about the new MyoSure treatment aimed at removing fibroids and polyps. You will also find information about symptoms that may indicate fibroids or polyps, and about the various tests that are carried out to detect fibroids or polyps. Visitors to the website can also ask questions online to gynecologist Richard Pal, who aims to answer within 48 hours. An additional service on the website is the opportunity to print out a questionnaire to take with you to the appointment with the gynecologist. 

MyoSure: how does it work?

A MyoSure treatment is an outpatient procedure, where you can go home the same day. The gynecologist inserts an instrument into the uterus through the vagina, with which the fibroids or polyps are removed. The device works quickly and relatively simply. As an indication: a fibroid of 3 cm can be removed in approximately 10 minutes. Do you have some stronger ‘medical nerves’? Then watch the animated film about the MyoSure treatment at www.baar Moederpoli.nl to see how the treatment works through the animation.

MyoSure, the three steps

• Step 1: The gynecologist inserts a small camera through the vagina to first view the inside of the cervix and uterus.
• Step 2: The doctor then inserts the treatment instrument through the vagina into the uterus. This cuts the fibroid or polyp into small pieces and removes them.
• Step 3: Once the fibroid or polyp has been completely removed, the instrument is removed from the uterus. In principle, you can then return home the same day.