Complicated abdominal hysterectomy subsequent to uterine embolization for large fibroids.

Uterine artery embolization (UAE) has increasingly been offered as a safe alternative method for treating uterine fibroids with major symptoms. By this technique patients could avoid surgical cure or definite treatment such as hysterectomy. UAE decreases the uterine blood supply to the tissues and this might predispose to intraabdominal adhesion formation as a result of tissue necrosis. A case of a complicated routine hysterectomy due to strong adhesions found intraabdominally during surgery is reported. Our patient had no predisposing factors for adhesions, but she had undergone UAE one year earlier for large fibroids and decided to proceed to surgical therapy when symptoms returned.