Acessa: New Treatment for Uterine Fibroids by Dr. Sharon Orrange/Primary Care Physician: at DailyStrength Doctors and Advisors

Dr. Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California, San Diego, and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…

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LOCATION: Santa Monica, CA, USA

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Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Geriatric, Hospital and General Internal Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

YEARS IN PRACTICE: 15

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Acessa: New Treatment for Uterine Fibroids

Posted in Hysterectomy by Dr. Sharon Orrange on Dec 03, 2012

A less invasive way to improve the lives of those suffering from Uterine Fibroids: One in five women may have fibroids during their childbearing years, and fibroids are present in half of all women by the age of 50. Sadly, fibroids are also one of the leading causes of hysterectomy.

A new option for the treatment of uterine fibroids has just been approved and may be a game changer for women. The FDA cleared Acessa for the treatment of uterine fibroids on Nov. 6, 2012.

What is Acessa? Acessa is already in use in Canada and Europe, and shrinks fibroids using radiofrequency energy delivered via an electrode inserted into the fibroid under laparoscopic ultrasound guidance. This ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation offers women a new, noninvasive treatment option for painful uterine fibroids.

What options are currently available for the removal of uterine fibroids?

1. Uterine artery embolization is a fantastic procedure, but gynecologists point out it’s a global destruction process of the entire uterus, and there are concerns regarding future fertility.

2. Hysteroscopic fibroid resection is useful for submucosal fibroids only so this does not work on other types of uterine fibroids.

3. Myomectomy is an invasive procedure that often leads to Cesarean down the line and carries a recurrence rate of about 80%.

Acessa is used in women with heavy bleeding and no more than six fibroids. It is used on an outpatient basis, patients returned to normal activity in an average of 7-10 days, and went back to work at about 9 days. What was very cool was, when asked about the overall effectiveness of the procedure, 98% of patients said they would recommend Acessa to a friend, 95% said they thought it was effective.

Those are good numbers.

- Dr. O

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