Balloon catheter endometrial thermotherapy in menorrhagia. New simple and safe alternative to hysterectomy

: Thermal endometrial ablation by means of a silicone balloon catheter is a new form of out-patient treatment for menorrhagia, designed to reduce menstrual blood loss by exerting thermal effects on the endometrium and myometrium without damaging surrounding tissue. Follow-up of 116 of the 117 women who underwent the treatment between August 1993 and December 1996 showed the procedure to be well tolerated, to be without immediate complications, and to be associated with significant reductions in menstrual blood volume and in the reported number of bleeding days (P < 0.001 in both cases). At follow-up after 10-49 months, the success rate was 94 per cent. (This excludes women with uterine cavity changes, or submucosal leiomyomas detected at pretreatment ultrasonography, for whom the treatment is not to be recommended.) In addition to its high success rate, the treatment is safe for the patient and easy for the physician to learn.