In-office endometrial ablation using a third-generation uterine balloon therapy system: 12-month prospective follow-up on menstrual patterns and dysmenorrhea impact.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficiency of in-office Thermachoice III (Ethicon, Somerville, New Jersey) endometrial ablations in resolving menstrual abnormalities as well as dysmenorrhea at 12 months after the procedure.


METHODS
This was a prospective, single arm, cohort study of women from an inner city, community based, physician group medical/ surgical clinic. Diagnostic hysteroscopy, dilation and curettage, and Thermachoice III endometrial ablation were performed under local analgesia.


RESULTS
At baseline, N = 148. At 12 months, 23 patients were lost to follow-up, leaving 125 for the evaluable cohort. The largest resulting patient category was amenorrhea, with 66.4% (83 of 125 evaluable), followed by hypomenorrhea at 31% (39 of 125 evaluable). Three patients (2.4%) were considered clinical failures. These 3 patients initially were designated as having hypomenorrhea at 3 months. Dysmenorrhea reduction was statistically significant (p < 0.05) at 6 months and 12 months as compared to baseline.


CONCLUSIONS
At 1 year after the procedure, the efficiency of in-office Thermachoice III was observed, with high amenorrhea rates as well as persistently decreased dysmenorrhea.
Chapa
Hector O
HO
Women's Specialty Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. chapamd@aol.com
Venegas
Gonzalo
G
Antonetti
Alfred G
AG
Van Duyne
Charles P
CP
Sandate
Jeffrey
J
Bakker
Ken
K
D000328:Adult; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000601:surgery*; D055356:Endometrial Ablation Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018579:Patient Selection; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome