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A 40-year-old Human Resources Manager, Bisi, with uterine fibroids, delayed her treatment for over four years for fear of open surgery and its associated risks.
Her fear was compounded by the death of her mother from complications of fibroid surgery.
She told our correspondent that her mother died of bleeding after the surgery, even after her womb was removed in the process.
This sad memory held Bisi back from going for open surgery despite being tormented by excruciating pain and heavy bleeding whenever she was menstruating each month.
She tried herbal medications instead, but her symptoms worsened.
Experts say uterine fibroids are abnormal growths that consist of muscle cells and fibrous tissues that form a mass within the uterus. According to them, they usually don’t become cancerous but might present some challenges and affect the quality of life of the women affected.
Fibroid is associated with infertility. However, experts say the size and location of the fibroids, among other factors, go a long way in determining whether or not it would affect fertility. Studies show that fibroids can negatively impact a woman’s quality of life if left untreated or mismanaged.
The Nigerian Society of Interventional Radiology says about 25 per cent of Nigerian women in their reproductive age living with uterine fibroid are unaware.
Symptoms of fibroids include; changes in menstruation, heavy menstrual periods, menstrual pain, difficulty urinating or frequent urination, constipation, miscarriages, infertility, etc.
Desperate for a solution, the human resources manager began to search for scientifically proven treatment options for fibroid removal besides surgery by surfing the internet.
Sharing her experience with PUNCH Healthwise, Bisi said fibroids made life difficult for her until she eventually got it removed without surgery using the High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound popularly known as HIFU technology.
With the emergence of HIFU technology, Nigeria is set to transform the fortunes of women’s reproductive health issues, according to experts.
Maternal health experts say HIFU is a noninvasive treatment approach for intestinal fibroids and adenomyosis.
It is a trans-cervical fibroid ablation technology combining intrauterine ultrasound guidance with the proven benefits of focused radiofrequency energy in a no-incision, uterus-preserving operation.
It is a promising alternative with the treatment advantages of precision, non-invasiveness, rapid recovery, and readiness for pregnancy, according to them.
She narrated, “Fibroid made life unpleasant for me. It significantly impaired my quality of life apart from frustrating me in getting pregnant. It was that bad. I bleed heavily and pass blood clots like someone who just gave birth whenever I’m menstruating.
“So, every five days in a month when I have to see my period is hell. I go through hell because of the too much blood flow and the serious pelvic pain that I have to go through.
“I have to always carry a pad along with me. Whenever I am menstruating, if I sit for a few hours, I will be stained. When I go to the toilet to clean myself, the moment I bend down to ease myself, the blood clots will start falling off like balls, like a liver.”
Despite this depressing experience, Bisi refused to go for surgery for fear of losing her life or womb.
“I vowed never to go for a fibroid surgery after my mother’s sad experience. My mother battled with fibroid for years before her passing. Unfortunately, she bled to death after undergoing fibroid surgery in a private hospital in Oyo State in 2018. She even had her womb removed in the process, but still didn’t make it. After her death, I refused to go for surgery despite the excruciating pain and heavy bleeding I endured every month. I was diagnosed with fibroids in 2017”, she said.
Bisi’s desire and dream to have her fibroids removed without going through the knife became a reality when she read on the internet about a non-invasive treatment method for fibroid, using HIFU technology.
Beaming with a smile and visibly impressed by the non-invasive treatment, she cheerfully recalled, “I got to know about the HIFU procedure on the internet. If I knew such a fibroid treatment was available in Nigeria earlier, I wouldn’t have delayed too long in removing it. So, I went for the procedure which lasted less than one hour and 30 minutes in 2022. It was a painless procedure and I had no complications nor any blood loss.
“ Life has become beautiful after the procedure. I don’t know what heavy flow and pelvic pain are anymore.”
Bisi who became pregnant seven months after the procedure noted, “My menses is normal and comes with ease, unlike the torture I usually go through before it was removed. I got married in June 2019 and the fibroid could not allow me to take in. I suffered four miscarriages. At one point my husband became so worried and encouraged me to go for surgery but I blatantly refused because of my mother’s experience. I thank God I didn’t go for surgery. I became pregnant seven months after undergoing the HIFU procedure. Today I have a child. I never knew we had better treatment options out there.”
Many women suffer from fibroids silently because of fear of surgery. While surgery is the option for some women, many women have the option of HIFU.
HIFU is increasingly garnering attention as a substitute for risky fibroid surgeries.
The innovative space-age treatment is helping many women avoid potential complications associated with fibroid surgery.
With success recorded in fibroid removal in Nigeria through the use of medical technology such as HIFU, maternal health experts say women in Nigeria diagnosed with the condition need no longer suffer or die in silence but to take advantage of the treatment non-invasive options that are available and accessible in the country.
A renowned fertility specialist, Dr Abayomi Ajayi, told PUNCH Healthwise that HIFU was safe and effective in treating uterine fibroids and adenomyosis.
Ajayi, who is the CEO of the Nordica Fibroid Care Centre, Lagos, said the emerging technology was important for women in Africa because of the migration of doctors abroad.
He affirmed that HIFU was a safe method of removing fibroids without surgery and improves the chances of conception.
The fertility expert pointed out that, unlike other treatments, HIFU offers a low rate of complications even as the use of general anaesthesia is eliminated.
Speaking during the third anniversary of the Nordica Fibroid Care Centre in Lagos recently, Ajayi said since its introduction in 2021, the centre had successfully treated over 500 women using the technology.
According to him, many women who received the treatment have reported significant improvements in their quality of life, with reduced menstrual bleeding and fewer challenges associated with fibroids.
Bisi and other women with fibroids who got them removed with HIFU technology described the procedure as a game changer in fibroid treatment during separate interviews with PUNCH Healthwise.
Also, Miss Patricia Omoke, told our correspondent that she had a horrible experience living with fibroid before she got it removed with HIFU.
“It was not easy living with a fibroid. It made my life miserable until it was removed through the use of HIFU technology.
“I read about HIFU online while I was surfing the internet in search of solutions besides open surgery.
“When I first came in contact with the experts, my condition was not good like I stated earlier. Now there is a huge improvement I must say.”
Mrs. Blessing Ndulaka also shared her fibroid experience with PUNCH Healthwise and how HIFU technology changed her story and restored her health.
“Fibroids made life unbearable for me at one point. I battled fibroid for over seven years because I was diagnosed with it early. I wasn’t able to get pregnant until I had it removed.
“The doctor told me that it was big and that it would not allow me to carry a pregnancy to full term unless I had it removed. I had three miscarriages before it was eventually removed. After I had a miscarriage the third time, my husband insisted that I must remove it. However, I was afraid of going through surgery because of the negative times I was hearing about fibroid surgery.
On how she got to know about the HIFU treatment, she said, “For fear of surgery, I visited different hospitals and experts until I got a facility that used non-invasive procedures to remove it. I was able to give birth a year after the procedure.”
Giving further insight into the benefits of HIFU treatment over open surgery in fibroid removal at the evening event tagged “White Saturday”, Ajay said, “This evening is like a fulfillment for me.
He noted, “With focused research on the technology for over 10 years, I approached the Chinese company that invented the technology to be interested in helping us to bring the technology to Nigeria which was ripe to embrace HIFU as a much-needed succour for women scared of going for surgery.
“HIFU has so many advantages particularly as it eliminates the need for surgery. The recovery time is short, there is no risk of blood loss, no damage to organs, and tissue and patients can return to normal life within 24-48 hours.
“As an effective alternative to surgery and medications for fibroids, there are fewer side effects with HIFU, no hospital stay and a quick return to normal activities, preservation of the uterus, cervix, and ovaries and significant improvement in quality of life — less menstrual bleeding and relief from urinary problems, pelvic pain, and pressure.
“It is ultrasound-guided, and the person is conscious and can talk to the doctor.”
In a 2020 article published in ScienceDirect journal, which analysed the clinical outcomes of 500 high-HIFU-treated uterine fibroids and adenomyosis, the authors said HIFU is safe and effective in treating uterine fibroids and adenomyosis.
“Three months after HIFU-treated uterine fibroids and adenomyosis, the lesion size reduced by 40.2 per cent and 46.3 per cent, respectively.
“Symptoms all improved with a better quality of life for the fibroid group, while those with adenomyosis or combined diseases benefit the most from pain control.
“HIFU is safe and effective in treating uterine fibroids and adenomyosis. The results are reproducible if standardized treatment schedules are followed. It is a promising treatment alternative with the advantages of precision, non-invasiveness, rapid recovery, and readiness for pregnancy”, the authors said.
ScienceDirect is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal article database covering research in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities.
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