The effect of uterine artery embolization on premenstrual symptoms in patients with symptomatic fibroids or adenomyosis

Purpose To evaluate whether uterine artery embolization (UAE) can reduce the premenstrual symptoms in women undergoing UAE for fibroid tumors or adenomyosis. Materials and Methods Among 141 women who underwent UAE for symptomatic fibroid tumors or adenomyosis at a single institution between March 2011 and February 2013, 54 premenstrual symptoms in 39 patients were prospectively analyzed. Premenstrual symptoms were rated by the patient on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing no symptom and 10 representing the baseline severity. The change in premenstrual symptom score was calculated by subtracting the baseline score from the post-UAE score. At 3-6 months after UAE, each woman also completed a symptom severity questionnaire to assess the severity of menstrual bleeding to compare the changes in premenstrual symptoms scores between women with and without menorrhagia. Results Back pain, headache, and gastrointestinal symptoms (eg, constipation, indigestion, lower abdominal pain) were significantly improved after UAE (P <.05). Muscle pain, fatigue, nervousness, breast tenderness, and systemic edema were also improved, but not significantly so. The mean premenstrual symptom score change in patients with menorrhagia was significantly greater than in those without menorrhagia (-6.4 vs -3.7; P =.044).There was no correlation between the degree of menorrhagia score change and the degree of premenstrual symptom score change (P =.186). Conclusions UAE could be a method to alleviate some premenstrual symptoms in patients with uterine fibroid tumors or adenomyosis.