Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE)
Uterine Fibroid Treatment in Kansas City & Independence, MO
Searching for uterine fibroid treatment near me? Uterine fibroids affect up to 70–80% of women by age 50. UFE is an FDA-approved, insurance-covered, non-surgical alternative to hysterectomy that treats the heavy bleeding and pelvic pain fibroids cause — performed right here at MIVA Medical, Kansas City’s dedicated fibroid embolization specialists in Independence, MO.
A 10-page guide covering fibroid symptoms, treatment comparisons, and what to expect — yours to keep.
See How UFE Works at MIVA Medical
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“I was living in constant pain, fatigue, heavy bleeding. Having a uterine fibroid was debilitating. When I found MIVA Medical, everything changed.
Uterine fibroids can disrupt your life. Surgery is not your only option. At MIVA Medical, we offer uterine fibroid embolization, a minimally invasive procedure covered by insurance.
No surgery, no downtime, just my life back. Call MIVA Medical today and book your consultation.”
What Are Uterine Fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are noncancerous, smooth, muscular tumors that develop on the inside of a woman’s uterus. These benign growths (also called fibromas or myomas) are so common that 30% of all women develop them by age 35, with as many as 70% to 80% of women experiencing them by age 50.
Although they can be painful and debilitating, fibroids are benign and do not raise a woman’s risk of uterine cancer. Fibroids can also affect day-to-day life in less obvious ways — learn more about how fibroids can affect your sex life and why some women with fibroids crave ice on our blog.
Common Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids
- Heavy menstrual bleeding
- Progressively heavier flow and longer periods
- Fatigue, dizziness, and other anemia symptoms
- Pelvic pain, fullness, or heaviness
- Pain in the lower back or legs
- Pressure and bloating in the pelvic area
- Constipation and an enlarged abdomen
- Frequent urination from bladder pressure
- Pain during intercourse
- In some cases, infertility from numerous or large fibroids
How Are Fibroids Diagnosed?
Uterine fibroids are usually diagnosed with a dedicated pelvic ultrasound, which provides information on fibroid size, shape, and location. When more detailed information is needed to characterize the fibroid and differentiate it from uterine cancer, an MRI of the pelvis is performed.
At MIVA Medical, we order any pertinent imaging or review previously acquired diagnostic imaging of the pelvis during your clinic consultation, and review treatment options with you based on the results. Curious how fibroids might be affecting more than your cycle? See how uterine fibroids can affect fertility on our blog.
What Is UFE and How Is It Performed?
Uterine fibroids have historically been treated with hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) or other approaches that prevented women from getting pregnant. At MIVA, we prefer the less invasive technique of Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) — also known as uterine artery embolization (UAE).
During this minimally invasive procedure, an interventional radiologist inserts a small catheter into the arteries feeding the fibroids and locates them precisely via X-ray. Tiny particles are then injected into the arteries to stop the local blood supply, causing the fibroids to shrink — and in some cases, disappear entirely.
UFE is performed on an outpatient basis in our office-based lab in Independence, MO. Because there are no incisions, the procedure carries few risks, and the lack of trauma to the uterus preserves your ability to conceive if you choose. Many patients report significant relief from symptoms as soon as their next menstrual cycle. Ready to find out if you’re a candidate? Take our fibroid quiz, read a full patient’s guide to UFE, learn how fibroids affect fertility on our blog, or visit our dedicated Kansas City Fibroid Center resource site.
If you’re weighing a non-surgical alternative to hysterectomy, it helps to understand how the options actually compare. A hysterectomy removes the entire uterus — it resolves fibroid symptoms permanently but ends fertility and involves major surgery with a longer recovery. A myomectomy removes only the fibroids and preserves the uterus, but it’s still a surgical procedure, and new fibroids can develop over time. UFE takes a different approach entirely: instead of surgically removing tissue, it cuts off the blood supply feeding the fibroids so they shrink on their own — no incisions, no hospital stay, and a much faster return to normal life. For a deeper side-by-side breakdown, read UFE vs. Hysterectomy vs. Myomectomy on our blog.
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Why Choose MIVA Medical For Your Fibroid Treatment?
Board-Certified Specialists
Dr. Silas Williams and Dr. Travis Brown are fellowship-trained interventional radiologists focused specifically on embolization therapies. Read more about Dr. Williams and Dr. Brown.
Personalized Consultation
Your initial consultation is typically with Maddie Fennessey, NP, who works closely with Dr. Williams to build your care plan — a physician consultation can also be requested based on availability.
Same-Day Procedure, No Hospital Stay
Once your consultation and workup are complete, the UFE procedure itself is done in a single outpatient visit — no incisions and minimal downtime, with most patients resuming normal activity within days.
Please note: MIVA Medical does not perform diagnostic imaging (ultrasound, MRI) in-house. Imaging is completed at an outside imaging center prior to treatment.
MIVA Medical also offers prostate artery embolization (PAE), geniculate artery embolization (GAE) for knee pain, and hemorrhoid artery embolization (HAE) — read what our patients say on our reviews page.
Visit Kansas City Fibroid Center, our dedicated resource site with in-depth articles, guides, and answers specifically about uterine fibroids.
Serving Women Across the Kansas City Metro
MIVA Medical’s Independence, MO clinic provides uterine fibroid embolization for women throughout the greater Kansas City area, including Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit, Grain Valley, Raytown, Overland Park, and Kansas City, MO & KS. If you’ve been searching for a UFE specialist or uterine artery embolization near you, our board-certified team is close by and taking new patients.
Looking for a fibroid doctor in Lee’s Summit? Patients from Lee’s Summit regularly choose MIVA Medical for UFE because our Independence, MO clinic is just a short drive away, with your consultation and treatment handled by a team who takes the time to explain your options.
Fibroid treatment in Blue Springs, MO is one of our most common referral areas — if heavy bleeding or pelvic pain has been affecting your life, our team can evaluate whether UFE is right for you.
Considering UFE in Overland Park? Many Overland Park and Johnson County patients travel to MIVA Medical specifically for our focus on non-surgical, insurance-covered fibroid care.
Searching for a fibroid specialist in Independence, Missouri? You don’t have to look far — MIVA Medical is based right here in Independence, serving our own community first.
Fibroid Success Stories
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“25 years with this pain. Extremely heavy periods. I even experienced hair loss. Extreme fatigue. I couldn’t take it anymore. So at that point I said something has to change because something is wrong. So I did some research and I started to assume like maybe I had fibroids.
We came in, we got the procedure done, and I went home that day. It’s that simple. I can’t stretch it, because it’s really that simple. And Dr. Williams, he’s a caring doctor, which is important to a person like me. There is no need to suffer — with Dr. Williams, I know you will be taken great, great care of.
I’m just living my best life, okay. That’s the best I can tell you. I’m living my best life. I’m fibroid free.”
More UFE Videos
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“Fibroids are benign non-cancerous growths of the uterus. The cause is unknown, however we do know that fibroids are stimulated by the hormone estrogen.
Because of this, fibroids tend to become more active and grow during women’s childbearing age years and will naturally stabilize or shrink when women hit menopause. They’re very common in the population with up to 8 out of 10 women having fibroids in their lifetime, and they’re very common in the African-American population. They can vary based on the size, shape, and location within the uterus. Their symptoms also can vary depending on the size and where these fibroids are located.
Thankfully there’s a non-surgical minimally invasive treatment right here at MIVA. To learn more about fibroids check out our website at www.miva-medical.com or watch some of our dedicated educational videos.”
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“Fibroid symptoms can range from being completely asymptomatic if the fibroids are small to having significantly lifestyle-limiting symptoms if the fibroids are larger. Some of these common symptoms include heavy vaginal bleeding, abdominal or pelvic pain or bloating, urinary frequency or urgency, constipation, painful intercourse, or even infertility if the fibroids are affecting the inner lining of the uterus.
Because of the heavy vaginal bleeding it can cause a condition called anemia, which can also lead to something called Pica, or the craving of non-nutritious, non-food items such as corn starch or chalk. This can be significantly irritating for patients, and thankfully there’s a non-surgical, minimally invasive treatment right here at MIVA called UFE, uterine fibroid embolization.
To hear more about this, check out our dedicated website at www.miva-medical.com for some of our other educational videos on fibroids.”
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“Fibroids are diagnosed clinically with a dedicated physical exam, however we usually will get a dedicated ultrasound to further evaluate the fibroids and may get additional imaging with a pelvic MRI, which is a more detailed test to help look at the size, shape, and location of the fibroids. Based on this, us as Interventional Radiologists will take all of the imaging and review it to make sure that we can treat all the fibroids in a single treatment session.
Here at MIVA, we do a minimally invasive, non-surgical treatment for fibroids, a procedure called uterine fibroid embolization, or UFE. It’s done right here in our office and is performed on an outpatient basis using moderate sedation.
To learn more about UFE, check out some of our other dedicated videos or go to our website at MIVA-MEDICAL.com.”
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“Treatment options for fibroids range from conservative treatment options to more aggressive treatment options such as a surgical removal of the uterus or a total hysterectomy.
For the conservative treatment options, usually women will optimize diet and exercise, as well as eat a diet that is high in leafy greens and avoiding red meats. Those things tend to help limit the fibroid symptoms. With medication management, oftentimes patients will take a progesterone-only mini pill which can also help limit the fibroid symptoms, however as soon as they stop taking those things the fibroid symptoms will often come back.
For minimally invasive treatment options, there are surgical options such as a myomectomy, or surgical removal of the fibroids, or a completely non-surgical option procedure called uterine fibroid embolization, or UFE. It’s performed right here at MIVA Medical and we offer it on an outpatient basis using conscious sedation.
To learn more about UFE as a treatment option, check out some of our dedicated educational videos or go to MIVA-MEDICAL.com.”
Show Video Transcript
“Fibroid embolization, or UFE, is performed right here at MIVA Medical. It’s performed on an outpatient basis using moderate sedation. The procedure is performed by accessing a small vessel in the left wrist. What we do is we take a very small catheter such as this and we navigate the catheter down into the vessels that are supplying the fibroids, then we inject very small beads such as this into the fibroid arteries, which essentially will block the blood flow to the fibroids, causing them to shrink and die, while at the same time sparing the normal blood flow to the uterus so it can maintain its healthy state.
Here is a demonstration showing a uterine fibroid embolization that was performed right here at MIVA. Here on the screen you can see the catheter, which I have shown previously, that’s positioned in the uterine artery supplying blood flow to the fibroid, which I’ve outlined with a pen here; and on this screen you can see the catheter was positioned in the left uterine artery where we were then going to inject beads into the fibroid, which I’ve outlined here. We require bilateral treatments because a lot of times these fibroids get their blood supply from both the left and the right uterine arteries, so it’s important to get both sides treated.
The procedure itself takes approximately 40 to 45 minutes to an hour to complete, and patients will recover for approximately an hour and then get sent home. To learn more about fibroids, check out our website at www.miva-medical.com or watch some of our dedicated educational videos.”
Show Video Transcript
“At MIVA Medical we provide expert level care with physicians who truly care about your health. Dr. Brown and myself are experts in the uterine fibroid embolization procedure. We’ve had a number of great outcomes and years of experience performing this procedure.
We strive to spread awareness and education in the KC metro area about uterine fibroids and how we can provide cost effective care, as well as provide a procedure like uterine fibroid embolization, which is covered by insurance and FDA approved.
Check out our website to learn more at miva-medical.com or check out some more of our educational videos on fibroids to learn how you or someone you may know who suffers from uterine fibroids may benefit from our procedures.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most effective therapy for uterine fibroids?
A total hysterectomy is the most successful at alleviating fibroid discomfort since the whole uterus is removed, but it is also the riskiest, with a long recovery, and is not suitable for women who wish to have children. Myomectomy removes only the fibroids, leaving the uterus intact, but carries the same surgical risks and symptoms can return if new fibroids develop. According to the Society of Interventional Radiology, roughly 85–90% of women who undergo UFE experience significant symptom relief and improved quality of life — supporting UFE as an equally effective alternative to surgery, with less risk, a quicker recovery, and no need for hospitalization.
What are the most common causes of uterine fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are linked to obesity, multiple births, ethnicity (more common in African American women), and hereditary factors. Estrogen and progesterone cause cyclical overstimulation of the uterine muscle tissue, which leads to fibroid development.
What are the symptoms of uterine fibroids?
Symptoms range from mild to severe, most commonly constant or cyclical pelvic discomfort, heavy menstrual bleeding, and irregular or lengthy periods. In some cases, fibroids press on the bladder, causing frequent urination, or in rare cases press on the ureter and affect kidney function. If your pelvic pain doesn’t seem to match typical fibroid symptoms, it’s also worth reading about pelvic congestion syndrome, another treatable cause of chronic pelvic pain. If you believe you may have uterine fibroids, talk with your primary care doctor or schedule a consultation with one of our MIVA Medical specialists.
How is the UFE procedure performed?
UFE is performed as an outpatient procedure at MIVA Medical’s endovascular facility and does not require general anesthesia — we use moderate sedation to keep you comfortable. It typically takes 1–1.5 hours, with an hour of rest afterward. A guided needle is inserted into the wrist or groin artery, and a small wire and microcatheter are advanced under X-ray guidance into the uterine artery. Tiny beads are then injected to block blood flow to the fibroids, causing them to shrink or disappear.
How is the uterine cavity affected by uterine artery embolization?
Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) blocks the blood supply feeding symptomatic fibroids, causing them to shrink and die. The uterine cavity may be temporarily affected, and some women experience mild discomfort, pelvic pressure, light bleeding, or cramping immediately afterward — this is normal and typically subsides within a few weeks. Most women who undergo UAE experience significant relief from abnormal bleeding and other fibroid symptoms afterward.
Where can I find uterine fibroid embolization near Kansas City?
MIVA Medical performs UFE at our Independence, MO clinic, serving patients throughout the greater Kansas City metro. Book a consultation or take our fibroid quiz to see if you’re a candidate.
Does insurance cover UFE?
Yes. Uterine Fibroid Embolization is FDA-approved and recognized as a covered treatment by most major insurance plans, including Medicare. Our team verifies your specific coverage and any preauthorization requirements before scheduling your procedure, so there are no surprises.
Related Reading From Our Blog
Uterine Fibroids Explained
Symptoms, causes, and risk factors of this common condition.
UFE vs. Hysterectomy vs. Myomectomy
Comparing the three main fibroid treatment paths side by side.
UFE: A Patient’s Guide
What to expect before, during, and after uterine fibroid embolization at MIVA Medical.
Why Are Fibroids Affecting My Sex Life?
How fibroid symptoms can impact intimacy — and how UFE can help.
Can Fibroids Come Back After UFE?
What the research shows about recurrence after treatment.
UFE and Menopause
Should you wait it out or treat now? What happens to fibroids after menopause.
Take a Quiz to Learn if UFE Is Right For You
Answer a few quick questions to see if you may be a candidate for Uterine Fibroid Embolization at MIVA Medical.