Football Size Fibroid Removed From Uterus Of 28-Year-Old Woman
Mumbai: A team headed by Dr. Jainesh Doctor, Gynaecologist and laparoscopic surgeon at SRV Mamta Hospital, Dombivli successfully performed a Laparoscopic Myomectomy on a 28-year-old woman to remove a large football-sized fibroid amongst many others, total specimen weighing just above 1 kg. The patient has resumed her normal life after getting discharged from the hospital.
Fibroids are a common problem occurring in women of childbearing age. They are non-cancerous growths, made up of muscle and fibrous tissue, and are of different sizes and shapes. This patient, a 28 year old resident of Mumbai, an IT professional by occupation experienced unbearable abdominal pain while at work in the month of November. Slowly as the days went by it started impacting her ability to perform routine daily activities. She got an ultrasound done and was diagnosed with large tumors in her uterus. The patient was referred to SRV Mamata Hospital, Dombivli wherein she got a fresh lease of life.
Dr Jainesh Doctor, Gynaecologist and laparoscopic surgeon at SRV Mamta Hospital, Dombivli said, “When she walked into my consulting, I initially thought she was a pregnant lady, 8 months into pregnancy. Later to my surprise, she produced her ultrasound report showing multiple fibroids, the largest one a conglomerate measuring 14x14x10 cm.”
Fibroids are benign growths of the uterus, common in the childbearing years. They can be either massive and bulky distorting the uterus, or can be as small as seedlings, undetectable by the human eye. 50% of the females with fibroids are not aware of its presence. In the rest, they can cause varied presentations like heavy menstrual bleeding, severe pain during menses, frequent urination and sometimes even diarrhoea. They not only lead to infertility but can often cause complications during normal delivery and caesarean sections. 40% of females below the age of 35 i.e. in their procreation age suffer from fibroids.
“The patient was severely anaemic, due to all the bouts of heavy menses, resulting from the presence of the fibroids. She was immediately admitted and transfused. Using advanced imaging techniques her uterus was mapped for the fibroids and a 3D reconstruction was done, so that we could save her uterus for future childbearing and preserve her fertility. The next day, I performed Laparoscopic Myomectomy and removed the entire 1KG mass from a small 1.2 cm incision using advanced instruments and techniques.”
Dr Jainesh Doctor added, “Her fibroids were located all around the uterus, anteriorly towards the bladder, few near the cornue, large posterior pressuring the intestines and rectum. All the fibroids were removed taking minimal strategic incisions and later her uterus was carefully reconstructed to its normal shape. All these measures not only help to preserve fertility but also reduce post-op adhesion formation. The skin incisions were cosmetically closed so no scar would be seen. Instead of a long vertical midline incision, the entire procedure was performed via 4 small holes. Operative blood loss was minimized by special techniques eliminating the need for any further blood transfusion.” The surgery lasted for 4 hours. The patient was started walking within 12 hours of the surgery. She got discharged after 3 days and resumed her routine life and work in days to follow.
“The red flags such as abdominal pain and heavy menses, due to fibroids severely affected my quality of life. I tried various home remedies such as a hot compression and even medication to manage the pain but nothing provided me any lasting relief. I cannot thank Dr. Jainesh enough for performing this miraculous surgery and helping me recover easily. I was shocked to see such a large tumor was inside me. It is still unbelievable that I was completely unaware of it from so many years and neglected all those subtle symptoms of bloating, pain during menses and feeling of something heavy moving in my stomach. I am happy that the symptoms have vanished now and have lost 1 kg of weight as a bonus. I am relieved and full of positivity now,” concluded the patient.
Dr. Jainesh Doctor said, “I have often found such large fibroids growing silently inside unsuspecting unmarried females. Many of them undergo open myomectomies or even a hysterectomy, as these are complex surgeries, and not everyone possesses the skill to perform them. In laparoscopic surgeries, complications and bleeding are less, hospital stays are shorter, recovery is fast and the scars are small and invisible. In this patient’s case we not only saved her uterus, her chance of bearing kids in the future but also reduced the surgical morbidity, eliminated the need for blood transfusion, and restored her normal daily life.”
