UAE vs. FAS

Dear Dr. del Junco Jr.

I am a 40 year old woman who has been diagnosed with uterine fibroids which total in size the equivalent of a 13 week-pregnancy. What is being suggested to me in terms of treatment is UAE. The most significant discomfort I have is frequent urination and some pelvic pain.
Given the above, would FAS be a better treatment option compared to UAE in terms of successfully treating my symptoms. I should add that I did receive Lupron injections at some point which reduced the pelvic pain but did not affect the issue of frequent urination. Also, do you accept patients from Canada and, if so, what would the costs and approximate waiting time be?

Dear Albina-
UAE can be effective for patients with smaller tumors but we do not recommend that procedure for women with multiple or large fibroids. The procedure blocks the blood supply to the uterus..hopefully focussing on the fibroids. The tumor then dies due to lack of nourishment. The body is then required to absorb this decaying tissue. We have seen patients post UAE that have developed sepsis and uterine necrosis as a result.
Our surgery, although invasive, will remove the tumors from your body safely with no chance of tissue decay. UAE often does not address all the tumors..FAS will remove every tumor we can find. We do not intentionally leave any fibroids…so the long term success rate is very high.
We do accept patients from all over the world. Give my office a call if you are interested, my office staff can discuss finances with you.