Original ArticleEfficacy of Bipolar Radiofrequency Endometrial Ablation vs Thermal Balloon Ablation for Management of Menorrhagia: A Population-Based Cohort
Section snippets
Material and Methods
This study was approved by the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center institutional review boards. The cohorts of patients included in this study were identified previously in a study from our research group. The methods used for identification and construction of the cohorts have been published [21].
Study Subjects
Of the 458 women identified, 3 were excluded because of menopause at the time of the procedure. Thus, 455 women were included in the analyses: 255 underwent RFA and 200 underwent TBA (Fig. 1). Their mean (SD) age was 43.3 (5.6) years, and median parity was 2 (IQR, 2–3). Median follow-up was 2.2 years (IQR, 1.3–3.5 years), and only 3 patients (<1%) were lost to follow-up. Baseline patient characteristics and clinical data were similar in the RFA and TBA groups (Table 1). Comparison of baseline
Discussion
In the present study, we directly compared the effectiveness of bipolar RFA and TBA in a population-derived cohort. Outcome measures included treatment failure and postablation amenorrhea. We reported procedural characteristics and other secondary outcomes, including duration of menstruation and change in hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations after ablation. Procedure-related complications were also documented and reported.
We observed no significant differences in treatment failure rates
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Cited by (0)
The authors have no commercial, proprietary, or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.
Presented at the 37th Global Congress of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 28–November 1, 2008.
Dr. Famuyide has received honoraria from Hologic Inc, Bedford, Massachusetts, for consultation services not related to this article.
This study was indirectly supported by NIH grant Rochester Epidemiology Grant (AR30582-Dr. W.A. Rocca, Pl).