Fibroids and heavy bleeding — you probably don’t need open surgery 

Fibroids are one of the most common findings in women’s health — and one of the most over-treated. If you have been told you need a large open operation to remove one, that is usually not the only option, and often not the best one.

What fibroids actually do

Fibroids are benign muscle growths in or on the wall of the uterus. Many cause nothing at all and simply need watching. But some cause heavy or prolonged bleeding, pelvic pressure and pain, or difficulty conceiving — and those are worth treating properly rather than enduring month after month.

The question is never only whether to treat a fibroid. It is how — because the route decides your scar, your recovery, and, if you still want children, your fertility.

Open surgery is rarely the only way

Reaching straight for a long incision is outdated for most cases. Through a few millimetre openings, a fibroid can be removed while the uterus is preserved — a laparoscopic myomectomy. Fibroids sitting inside the cavity can often be shaved away from the inside with no external cut at all, using hysteroscopy. Size alone rarely rules keyhole out in experienced hands; it is the surgeon’s experience, not the fibroid’s diameter, that usually decides.

Why the route matters most for fertility

For a woman who may want to conceive, how a fibroid is removed matters as much as whether it is removed. Careful laparoscopic myomectomy preserves the uterus and usually allows a faster recovery than open surgery.

If you have been handed a date for open surgery, it is worth one more question before you accept it: is keyhole possible for my case? Bring your scans, and get a straight answer.