How big does a uterine fibroid need to be before surgery is needed? What are the symptoms of uterine fibroids?

How much surgery is needed for uterine fibroids? Patients often think that the size of uterine fibroids is the key to treatment. In fact, this is wrong. Whether to treat depends on the location of the uterine fibroids and whether it causes symptoms. If there are symptoms, even if it is small, as small as 1 cm in diameter; if there are no symptoms, no treatment is required even if it is as large as 5 cm.

The uterus is like a pear, hanging upside down on the vagina. The uterus is made of muscle, so if there is a tumor in the uterus, it is called a uterine fibroid. The uterine wall is divided into three layers. The outer layer is called the serosa, the middle layer is called the myometrium, and the inner layer is called the mucosa. All uterine fibroids grow in the muscle, called serosa fibroids grow outside the uterus, called mucosa fibroids grow inside the uterus, and called myometrial fibroids grow in the middle. Among them, myometrial fibroids are the most common, accounting for about 60% to 70% of uterine fibroids, followed by serosa fibroids and mucosa fibroids.

In the outpatient clinic, Ji Mei often encounters women with medical examination forms. Most of them usually have no symptoms. They find uterine fibroids during routine physical examinations and ask whether to treat them. Ji Mei said that these consultants often think that the size of uterine fibroids is the key to treatment. In fact, this is wrong. Whether to treat depends on the length, location, and whether the uterine fibroids cause symptoms. If there are symptoms, even if it is small and 1 cm in diameter, it should be treated; if there are no symptoms, even if it is large and 5 cm, it does not need to be treated.

What are the symptoms of uterine fibroids? Sister Ji said that the symptoms of uterine fibroids vary from place to place.

Mucosal fibroids. This type of fibroid grows in the uterus and increases the surface area of ​​the endometrium. The cause of menstruation is the shedding and bleeding of the endometrium. Therefore, once mucosal fibroids appear, there will be heavy menstrual flow and long menstrual cycles. Normal people change sanitary napkins once or twice a day, but patients with mucosal fibroids need three or four times; normal people menstruate for three to five days, but she needs seven or eight days.

An intramural fibroid grows in the middle. It does not grow outward or inward, so it does not cause immediate symptoms.

Serous fibroids grow outward. Before talking about serosal fibroids, let's talk about the location of the uterus. Its neighbor in front is the bladder, its neighbor in the back is the rectum, and both sides are ureters. Therefore, if the fibroid grows in the front, it will compress the bladder to a certain extent, causing the patient to urinate more. Normal people get up once or not at night, and she has to get up three or four times at night; if the fibroid grows in the back, it will compress the rectum to a certain extent, and she will defecate frequently and always want to defecate; the fibroid grows on both sides, compressing the ureter, and urine excretion is not smooth. The excreted urine cannot be discharged and accumulates in the kidneys. The kidneys are often infected, and symptoms of low back pain will occur.

Uterine fibroids have different locations and symptoms. If you have symptoms and confirm that the symptoms are related to uterine fibroids, you can have surgery to remove them. Most surgeries are minimally invasive, and the doctor will choose hysteroscopy or laparoscopy depending on the location of the fibroids.