NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ¿ Women with symptomatic uterine fibroid tumours, benign tumours inside the uterus that often cause heavy menstrual bleeding, pain and other symptoms, may often be able to avoid hysterectomy by undergoing uterine artery embolisation, a "valuable alternative," according to Dutch researchers.

"Every woman should be offered uterine artery embolization as alternative to hysterectomy, based on our scientific data," senior investigator Dr. Jim A. Reekers told Reuters Health.

Uterine artery embolisation is a minimally invasive procedure, requiring an incision of less than one inch in the groin. A small tube, or "catheter," is inserted and tiny particles are injected to block the arteries that supply blood to the fibroids causing them to shrink.

In the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reekers and colleagues at the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam note that previous studies of uterine artery embolization have not included a comparison group of patients undergoing other treatments, such as hysterectomy.