For millions of women, uterine fibroids can mean more than discomfort. The noncancerous growths often lead to heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain and pressure, and disruptions to daily life. Now, a new minimally invasive treatment is offering relief to patients in Chicago’s south suburbs, without the need for major surgery.
Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital is the first facility in the region to offer transcervical fibroid ablation, or TFA, a procedure that uses radiofrequency energy to shrink uterine fibroids and relieve symptoms.
“Uterine fibroids affect millions of women per year. They can cause abnormal bleeding, fertility problems and pelvic pain,” said Dr. Alexander Lin, OB/GYN and medical director for women’s health at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital. “This technology allows us to treat fibroids earlier and in a less invasive way than ever before.”
The treatment, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 and launched commercially in 2020, threads a slim instrument through the vagina and into the uterine cavity. Using ultrasound guidance, physicians identify and target fibroids. Electrodes are introduced into the fibroid, and radiofrequency energy is delivered to ablate, or destroy, the tissue.
“There are no incisions, only twilight anesthesia is required, and patients experience minimal to no blood loss,” Lin said. “Postoperative pain is minimal, making recovery very rapid.”
Patients can typically return to work within a day or two. About 90 percent of women treated experience significant relief from bleeding, pain and pressure without undergoing major surgery.
The technology also makes it possible to treat smaller fibroids within the muscular wall of the uterus — fibroids that were previously difficult to access and often left to grow until they required hysterectomy or other major procedures.
“Being able to treat these fibroids early, when they are still small, allows us to prevent them from growing and causing severe symptoms,” Lin said. “In many cases, that means avoiding major surgery altogether.”
Northwestern Medicine now offers transcervical fibroid ablation at Palos Hospital, Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital in the northern suburbs.
For patients like Cayce McConnell, 46, of Frankfort, the treatment has been life-changing. After struggling with heavy, painful periods, she had the procedure at Palos Hospital earlier this year.
“I was in and out the same day, back to work in two days, and my symptoms are already so much better,” McConnell said. “It’s amazing not to have my life disrupted every month.”