Thermachoice endometrial balloon ablation: a possible alternative to hysterectomy

The purpose of the present audit was to assess the effectiveness and safety of thermal balloon ablation of the endometrium for the treatment of menorrhagia and also to assess patients' satisfaction following the treatment. A total of 50 women successfully underwent endometrial ablation using the Thermachoice balloon system for the treatment of menorrhagia at Caerphilly Miners' District Hospital, Caerphilly, South Wales, UK in the period between September 2000 and December 2002. All cases were performed under a general anaesthetic. There was no equipment failure in this study. No major intra-operative or postoperative complications were noted. However, a post-procedure complication rate of 4% was reported. All cases were discharged within 24 h. Cases were reviewed 3, 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively. All 50 women attended for follow-up after 3 months. However, two cases were lost for follow-up at 6 months. The number increased to three cases after 12 months and seven cases after 24 months. At each visit, women were interviewed with emphasis on their menstrual history after treatment and the need for further therapy - if any. Women were asked to respond on a four-point ordinal scale to assess satisfaction with treatment (very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied or very dissatisfied). Symptomatic improvement was checked by asking participating women to grade the heaviness of their menstrual blood loss as none (amenorrhoea), lighter than before (hypomenorrhoea), or same as before (persistent menorrhagia). Improvement was defined as amenorrhoea or hypomenorrhoea, while procedure failure was defined as persistent menorrhagia. A statistically significant (p = 0.0001) difference was found between pre- and post-treatment heaviness and duration of menstrual flow, as well as the incidence of anaemia. The success rate was maintained over the follow-up period with a range of 86 - 92%. Patient satisfaction was also high at 86%. However, in view of persistent menorrhagia, six patients out of 43 (14%) required further treatment.