In treating women with
leiomyoma and who wish to preserve their uterus, laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation or
uterine artery embolization should be considered as possible options. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation and
uterine artery embolization in treating uterine
myoma. The treatment outcomes of 23 patients who underwent
uterine artery embolization and 17 laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation were evaluated. The uterine volume reduced 3 months after
uterine artery embolization, but thereafter no significant changes were observed. On the other hand, the uterine volumes were only slightly reduced 3 months after laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation, and slightly more reduced 6 months later. The average reduction in the case of laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation was about 58.5%. After laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation, 20% of the patients complained of vaginal
spotting. Furthermore, the mechanism of volume reduction was evaluated using specimens obtained from a biopsy taken after each procedure. The results suggested that laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation results mainly in physiologic cell death, that is apoptosis, whereas, the corresponding result is cell
necrosis for
uterine artery embolization.
Uterine artery embolization and laparoscopic uterine artery
ligation are both effective in relieving the symptoms caused by uterine
myoma, and therefore both procedures can be used in place of
hysterectomy or
myomectomy.