Hysterectomy procedures will continue to decline due to advantages of less-invasive alternatives: MRG

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, hysterectomy procedures as a treatment for menorrhagia and uterine fibroids will continue to decline at a rate of three percent a year through 2015. This decline is due to the growing advantages of less-invasive alternatives, primarily global endometrial ablation (GEA), and uterine artery embolization (UAE).

“The availability of hysterectomy alternatives gives physicians a wider range of treatment choices”

Because of its invasive nature, which leads to high cost and long patient recovery periods, hysterectomy has been reserved as a last-resort treatment for conditions like menorrhagia and uterine fibroids. As a result, less-invasive therapeutic interventions like GEA and UAE will continue to see strong growth over the next five years. The number of these procedures performed in the United States and Western Europe will grow at an average rate of more than four percent annually through 2015.

"The availability of hysterectomy alternatives gives physicians a wider range of treatment choices," said MRG Manager Tiffanie Demone. "Many of these procedures have the additional advantage of being performed in an outpatient setting. This makes scheduling easier, minimizes recovery time and results in a lower cost. The overall savings is naturally of interest to healthcare payers, and as a result, we expect to see continued strong growth in these procedures."

GEA, the complete removal of the endometrium lining, is increasingly popular for treatment of menorrhagia. It can be performed in a physician office setting with local anesthesia, is significantly faster than hysterectomy and is associated with lower morbidity. These benefits will prompt strong procedure growth through 2015. Leading GEA products include ETHICON Women's Health & Urology's THERMACHOICE III, Hologic's NovaSure, Boston Scientific's Genesys HTA System, CooperSurgical's Her Option, Idoman's Thermablate EAS and Microsulis' Microwave Endometrial Ablation System.

For uterine fibroids, UAE is becoming an increasingly popular treatment option. UAE is a procedure in which blood flow to fibroids is blocked using miniscule particles. This procedure is performed under local anesthesia and does not require open surgery, thus reducing the risks commonly associated with a myomectomy or hysterectomy. Nearly 90 percent of women who undergo UAE experience relief of their symptoms. Studies have shown that UAE is also significantly more cost effective in the hospital setting over hysterectomy and myomectomy, another factor expected to drive procedure growth. UAE products include BioSphere Medical's EmboSphere, Boston Scientific's Contour SE Microspheres and Biocompatibles' Bead Block.

Millennium Research Group's US and European Markets for Hysterectomy Alternatives 2011 report includes procedure, average selling price and revenue information for GEA devices, hysteroscopes, endometrial resection devices and UAE devices in the United States and Western European (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) markets.