Torrecárdenas University Hospital is the only hospital in the country that systematically uses local anesthesia for endometrial ablations with radiofrequency, without the need to completely sedate patients. As detailed by the gynecologist of the Almeria hospital, Dr. Sonia Martínez Morales, “this fact represents a great advance in the quality of care that we offer to women who are users of the Torrecárdenas University Hospital” because their recovery is much faster and the stay in the hospital much shorter.
Sonia Martínez Morales was trained in UK to be able to develop this type of intervention with local anesthesia, something that is done in some countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Holland or Belgium, among others.
This technique, the endometrial ablation with radiofrequency, “Which has an excellent tolerance by patients” consists of the destruction of the layer that lines the inside of the uterus, the endometrium, and which is responsible for menstrual bleeding in women. When this layer is thicker or responds abnormally to the hormones generated by the patient, abnormal bleeding occurs that can be very abundant or very persistent throughout the month, “which is very uncomfortable and can trigger anemia or a significant deterioration in the quality of life of women ”, said Dr. Martínez Morales.
“This treatment is not usually the first therapeutic stepWe initially tried hormonal treatment, but not everyone responds adequately and there are also women who have contraindications for them, for example in women who have suffered breast cancer ”, he has detailed.
The Almeria hospital doctor has also explained that “for these women who do not respond to hormonal treatment or who have a contraindication to this type of treatments, we have this therapeutic option before considering a hysterectomy ”(surgery to remove the uterus). This is especially important in the current circumstances of the COVID 19 pandemic “since the attention of our anesthetists has had to be prioritized towards patients with COVID and in this way we can offer a solution to our patients that does not require an operating room.”
Training symposium on the technique for all of Spain
This week the ‘National Webinar on NovaSure’ was held with Dr. Sonia Martínez, from the Torrecárdenas University Hospital, and Dr. Covadonga Alvarez from the Hospital de La Paz in Madrid as speakers and with the participation of a large number of gynecologists from all over the country, the most relevant aspects related to the technique of radiofrequency endometrial ablation have been discussed.
“One of the objectives of this symposium was to be able to give diffusion to local anesthesia. In addition, we are tackling an effective solution to the problem of heavy bleeding that we couldn’t delay and we do it without having to remove the patient’s uterus ”.
This technique, Dr. Sonia Martínez Morales has specified, “is indicated for women who do not have future pregnancies, but who do not want to lose their uterus, and it is well tolerated and with low risk. We perform radiofrequency endometrial ablation with Local anesthesia, which, as we pointed out, is a great advance for our patients. In this regard, the Torrecárdenas Hospital is a pioneer in Spain but we hope that we will soon be able to extend this practice to the rest of the country’s hospitals ”.
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