Tumour-shrinking drugs and other non-invasive procedures are available to treat benign uterine tumours which affect one in four women in the UK. Fibroids cause pain when they push on the bladder or rectum, but experts fear health care professionals are failing to inform women of the choices. The figures obtained by Freedom of Information requests have alarmed former royal gynaecologist Sir Marcus Setchell, honorary president of research charity Wellbeing of Women.
“This is a very important piece of research, the findings of which need to be made widely available to gynaecologists, GPs, patients and health providers,” he said.
“There is clearly a failure of communication about the use of these less-invasive treatments.”
Dr Anne Deans, a consultant gynaecologist at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey, is calling for more doctors to offer alternative treatments so women do not have to unnecessarily undergo major surgery to remove their uterus.
She said: “Women should be given a choice, but many are not being told about the alternatives to hysterectomies. This is major surgery involving six weeks off work.
“The womb is not only an important part of a woman’s body but removing it costs in terms of recovery time for the patient, surgery costs and the fact that it takes away the prospect of a pregnancy for many women.”
Dr Deans compared the NHS to a “large container ship” which takes ages to turn round to new treatments and innovations “which is not fair on patients”.
One non-invasive treatment option is the use of the drug Esmya – available in the UK since 2016 – which blocks the receptors that “feed” the tumours and make them grow.
Another option is the use of an injection to block the blood vessels that supply the fibroids causing them to shrink, known as a uterine artery embolisation.
A recent all-party parliamentary group on women’s health discovered that only a few patients were told about drug options and only 54 per cent informed of embolisation.
A survey of Britain’s hospital trusts found 43 per cent of women were not satisfied with the information about their treatment choice and 34 per cent were not happy with their treatment.
The report also found that in some regions GPs are not allowed to prescribe Esmya due to the cost to the health authority – approximately £100 a month.
However, the report also highlighted that the cost of a hysterectomy is £3,600 – making drugs a much cheaper alternative.
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Growths meant kids ‘weren’t part of my plan’ POP STAR and actress Beverley Knight had a hysterectomy in 2017 after she developed fibroids.
The 45-year-old revealed her stomach had been so swollen she thought she was pregnant.
She spent much of that year recovering from the surgery, which forced her to cancel tour dates.
Afterwards she admitted that having children had never been “part of her plan” because of the muscular tumours.
She recalled: “I noticed that my tummy was very swollen. At first I assumed I was pregnant. I thought, ‘This cannot be happening’.”
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The singer FKA twigs revealed last May that she had keyhole surgery to remove six fibroids in 2017.
The 31-year-old wrote on Instagram: “The tumours were pretty huge, the size of two cooking apples, three kiwis and a couple of strawberries. A fruit bowl of pain every day. The nurse said that the weight and size was like being six months pregnant.”
She added: “I had surgery in December and I was so scared, despite lots of love from friends and family I felt really alone and my confidence as a woman was knocked.”