Doha: Many women and young teens silently carry the pain sometimes blaming it on their periods, having irregular periods, suffering from fibroids, ovarian cysts, and they do not speak up because they are too ashamed to talk about it.
Every woman should see a gynecologist to promote good health. Known as annual wellness exams – regular check-ups and screenings can save lives.
Whether starting from puberty when the reproductive organs mature or when they are in reproductive age, then older and about to start menopause-women should be regularly evaluated by a gynecological specialist, said Dr Aisha Ahmad Yousuf, Medical Director of Reproductive Surgery, Women’s Services, Sidra Medicine.
“I urge women, whether you are married or not married, a teen, a mother or even female family members to have frank discussions about gynecology and take action,” she said speaking at a press conference held recently.
“Left unattended, many conditions can manifest into more serious conditions,” she said.
Dr Aisha emphasised that services at Sidra Medicine have been structured in keeping a woman and her needs and choices in mind. The hospital provides reproductive healthcare to address all conditions that may arise between puberty and menopause in women.
"Our care and treatment, in gynecology, is based on offering the latest and minimally invasive techniques that are safe and most importantly expand the choice for women in the country,” she said.
In October last year, Sidra Medicine launched Fibroid Care Center – a new clinical multidisciplinary service launched by the Department of Gynecology. It is a fibroid removal program using minimally invasive methods and robotic surgery.
“Sidra Medicine is the only national hospital that offers ground-breaking Robotic Myomectomy, a minimally invasive technique using robotics to remove uterine fibroids,” said Dr Aisha.
Dr Aisha Ahmad Yousuf
Some women with fibroids are given the recommendations to have a hysterectomy or to have their large fibroids removed via open incisions.
“At Sidra Medicine, we believe this is not their only option, and we encourage women to seek a second opinion with us,” said Dr Aisha.
"I am personally very proud to announce that we are now offering surgical repairs of Mullerian Anamolies,” she added.
This particular surgery is available for women especially young teenage girls in whom we discover that they have rare congenital anomalies affecting their reproductive organs.
Examples include under development of some of the reproductive organs; blocked outflow (eg imperforated hymen, vaginal septum) or duplicated system for example, the presence of two wombs – with the one of the wombs be abnormal. Other anomalies include “separated systems” (eg uterine septum). Sometimes the anamolies are not discovered until the girls reach puberty and can cause irregular periods, obstructive flow of the period, pelvic pain, pelvic masses, or can be asymptomatic.
Some of these anomalies require surgical correction, excision, or repair. Most surgeries of these anomalies are performed by expert gynecologists via minimally invasive and robotic surgery – without the need for large incision or open surgeries. Usually family will travel abroad to seek specialised centers for these types of surgeries.
“I am pleased to say, this service is now offered at Sidra Medicine. Also, when performed on young girls, we take a multi-disciplinary team approach with our pediatrics surgery and urology colleagues,” said Dr Aisha.
“Just recently we performed the surgery on a 14-year old girl who was suffering from abdominal pain and was brought in for a screening and that’s when we found that she had two wombs – one was normal and the other was abnormal. Using our minimally invasive surgical methods, we successfully removed the abnormal second womb,” she added.
According to Dr Aisha, hundreds of female patients, have chosen to get treated at Sidra Medicine for gynecology care instead of travelling abroad to East Asia, Europe or North America.
