PHOENIX -- (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- They’re the most common kind of uterine tumors -- affecting as many as 25-percent of all childbearing women. But in the past, the most common treatment option for fibroids has been one that takes other options away --namely, hysterectomy. Now there’s an easier alternative.

When Beth Driscoll came to Surgical Gynecologist Kelly Roy, M.D., for treatment of a uterine fibroid, she knew she’d had about all the pain and discomfort she could take.

“I was taking ibuprofen way too much, it really, really cramped my lifestyle,” Driscoll said.

What Driscoll didn’t know was that Dr. Roy is also a bioengineer, and that she would be among the first to benefit from a new procedure … one Dr. Roy is now teaching to doctors all over the US.

“The technology has come out of other technology really that we’ve been trying to develop over the last 20 years, to help women with fibroids inside the uterus so we can treat them without a hysterectomy,” said Dr. Roy.

Non-cancerous fibroids affect as many as 75-percent of all women … attaching to the uterine wall, causing pain, cramping and heavy bleeding. Now, this tool -- adapted from an instrument used in knee surgery -- is designed to remove the tumor. It’s called a hysteroscopic morcellator -- think of it as a surgical pacman.

“It’s kind of a pacman effect it kind of chews up the tissue, and removes it at the same time,” said Dr. Roy.

Because it’s done through the cervix, Dr. Roy says there’s minimal tissue damage, no scar and quicker recovery for the patient.

“It requires no incisions, it’s an outpatient procedure most women are able to go back to their normal activity by the next day,” said Dr. Roy.

Just a few weeks after the procedure, Driscoll is back to an active, pain-free life and she says she feels 100 percent better.

If you would like more information, please contact: Kelly Roy, M.D. Phoenix Gynecology Consultants kelly.roy@bannerhealth.com