Intraabdominal adhesions after uterine artery embolization.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate intraabdominal adhesions after uterine artery embolization (UAE). This was a case-control study of patients who underwent hysterectomy after UAE (UAE group) in the years 2000-2006. The control group consisted of patients who underwent hysterectomy for uterine myoma in the same week. We encountered 30 patients in the UAE group and 72 in the control group. The age of patients in the UAE group was 44.9 +/- 0.8 years and 44.6 +/- 0.6 years in the control group. In the UAE group, the diameter of the dominant myoma in patients with adhesions (11.3 +/- 1.9 cm) was larger than in those without adhesions (5.6 +/- 0.6 cm; P = .003; confidence interval, 1.9-8.5). The prevalence of adhesion in the UAE group (20%) was higher than in the control group (1.4%; P = .002; odds ratio, 17.2). UAE is associated with intraabdominal adhesion formation. Large myoma predisposes to adhesion formation.