Al-Ahli Hospital performs life changing surgery on 43-year-old

Doha: A team at Al-Ahli Hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Department has performed a life-changing surgery on a woman presented with huge uterus (25cm) due to sixty (60) pieces of multiple fibroids. 

After the life-changing over three hours operation and brief stay at the Al-Ahli Hospital, the 43-year-old woman was able to return to work and daily activities, said consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Zahra Alamooti. 

“The lady presented at our clinic with unusual pain and bleeding with huge abdominal mass. After examinations and tests, we found that she has huge uterus measuring 25 cm with multiple fibroids,” said Dr. Alamooti. 

“She was advised by other centers to do hysterectomy as this is a huge mass but the patient desired to keep her uterus, considering her age and that she is unmarried, so I decided to do open myomectomy without any consideration of hysterectomy” Dr. Alamooti added.

“At the time of operation, we found a huge uterus (anatomy of the uterus was completely distorted) with multiple fibroids. The surgery took around three and half hours, and I removed the fibroids one by one with the total count of 60 fibroids and the largest was 9 cm in size. Other important steps were also followed to control the bleeding during the surgery and blood loss was minimal,” she said. 

According to Dr. Alamooti, the patient has regained normal life after the surgery and she needs only some follow up checks. Myomectomy is a surgical procedure that removes fibroids and it preserves the uterus. 

Uterine fibroids are common that grow inside the uterus with different location and presentation and usually, it is noncancerous (1% tends to be malignant). It’s unclear why uterine fibroids develop, but several factors may influence their formation, however, hormones, family history, late pregnancies tend to play a role in developing fibroids. 

“Although fibroids can grow with different sizes, many people with fibroids are unaware that they have them. People with asymptomatic fibroids do not require surgery or other treatments,” said Dr. Alamooti.

“However, other people experience abdominal pain, pressure, bloating, frequent urination, and heavy or painful periods. These individuals may require surgery,” she said. 

“Surgery can be life changing for people whose fibroids interfere with their quality of life, as it can improve many aspects of their health “she added. 

According to Dr. Alamooti, all surgeries present some risks, however, so it is vital to explore all treatment options. “A doctor can provide advice on which surgeries might be appropriate. As recently, uterine fibroids are no longer indicated to have a hysterectomy in the world. We should try to keep woman’s uterus as we can, except with any malignancy issues. A person may also wish to consider seeking a second opinion before agreeing to surgery.”