Comparison of 8 versus 16 minutes heating in the treatment of menorrhagia with hot fluid balloon ablation

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of 8 versus 16 m in of heating in the treatment of menorrhagia with hot fluid balloon ablati on. Between 1995 and 1998, women with menorrhagia consecutively scheduled f or endometrial ablation with hot fluid balloon were included in a prospecti ve study. The effectiveness of 8 versus 16 min heating time on surgical rei ntervention and patients' satisfaction was evaluated. Of the 130 women in t he study, 63 had endometrial heating for 8 min, whereas 67 patients had end ometrial heating for 16 min. Hysteroscopy performed immediately after the p rocedure showed an evident thermic effect on both the anterior uterine wall and the fundal region in the two groups. The posterior wall was still vita l in 25% of the patients after treatment for 8 min, whereas this percentage was only 8% in the 16-min group. This difference was not statistically sig nificant. Failure rates of the hot fluid balloon therapy, defined as either hysterectomy or dissatisfaction with the treatment result, were not signif icantly different (hazard rate ratio 1.0; 95% confidence interval 0.93-1.2) . This study shows that there is no advantage in doubling the heating perio d of the balloon ablation therapy from 8 to 16 min.