LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of British women who suffer heavy menstrual bleeding are having unnecessary hysterectomies to cure the problem, according to research published Wednesday.

Doctors who studied around half the hysterectomies carried out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in one year in the mid-1990s found that 46% were performed on women who complained of excessive monthly bleeding.

According to the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, hysterectomies could have avoided in between 50% to 75% of these cases, with doctors opting instead for a less invasive operation called endometrial ablation.

The technique, introduced as an alternative to hysterectomy in the late 1980s, avoids the need to remove the uterus by destroying the lining of the womb--the source of the bleeding.

The report authors called on the government and Britain's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to force doctors to consider this treatment in more cases.

"The availability of newer, less invasive techniques for the treatment of heavy periods needs further consideration and both the Department of Health and NICE should consider the need for national guidelines for women and doctors," the authors concluded.

Around 100,000 British women have a hysterectomy every year, and by the age of 60, one in five has had their uterus removed.

Complications arose during one in 30 of the operations during the year studied, the research showed, resulting in a need for further surgery in one in 130 cases.

The Department of Health said it had asked NICE to give the report's findings serious consideration.

"The alternative use of endometrial ablation, as recommended by the authors, is more widely available now than it was in the mid-1990s when this report was researched. We have already asked NICE to appraise this treatment," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an orally-administered alternative to both a hysterectomy and endometrial ablation could be available within the next few years.

American researchers announced last July they were working on two new drugs that could ease excessive menstrual pain and reduce the need for hysterectomies.

The pills, which suppress menstruation and ovulation and block the effects of the female hormone estrogen on the lining of the womb, have been successfully tested on rhesus macaque monkeys.

If clinical trials are successful, the pills could offer an alternative for women who cannot tolerate the contraceptive pill and for those who suffer from endometriosis and painful and excessive monthly cycles.

Reference Source 89

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