It\u2019s common to experience discomfort while recuperating in the early days after a major surgery or procedure. However, when discomfort turns to pain, patients should be evaluated and treated immediately. At VIVA EVE, our medical team is attentive to the needs of our patients, and take extra measures to make sure patients are kept comfortable. When patients report pain, we respond promptly. Here\u2019s a look at the journey a patient goes through before, during, and after the UFE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

Pre-Op<\/strong> for a UFE Procedure<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cWhen patients experience pain after undergoing the uterine fibroid embolization procedure<\/a> (UFE), inflammation is usually the cause,\u201d says Dr. Nithya Gopal, Fibroid Specialist. \u201cIn order to gain the upper hand on inflammation before it starts, we advise patients to follow our pre-op instructions, which include taking certain medications to help reduce pain going into the procedure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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According to Patient Care Coordinator Jennifer Little, these instructions are always provided by a member of our Patient Care team<\/a>. \u201cWe work in tandem with the doctors to provide patients with their medical instructions after their procedure is scheduled. In order to minimize confusion, our patient pre-op instructions are always printed on a blue sheet of paper, and our discharge instructions are always printed on a pink sheet of paper.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Included with the instructions are pre-op medications patients are provided free of charge, which include Senna, Ibuprofen\/Motrin, and Gabapentin. \u201cWe give anti-inflammatories prior to the procedure and we also give medicine that acts like fiber and stool softener,\u201d explains Dr. Gopal. \u201cThese meds take a few doses before they get to a certain steady state in the bloodstream, so by taking them beforehand, you\u2019re reducing the inflammation that leads to the pain, as well as the constipation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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What to Expect During a UFE Procedure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The day of the procedure, patients are asked to bring prescription pain medications for their recovery, which are available for pickup at their preferred pharmacy 24 hours before the procedure. During the procedure, patients are given moderate sedation to ensure they\u2019re comfortable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cThe way this differs from deep sedation, or what people more likely refer to as \u2018general anesthesia,\u2019 is that you\u2019re never actually on a ventilator,\u201d says Dr. Ruchir Gupta, Anesthesiologist. \u201cYou\u2019re always breathing on your own, but you\u2019re in such a deep sleep that you don\u2019t have any real understanding of what is happening around you. You don\u2019t hear things, you won\u2019t feel things, and you\u2019re very comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Patients undergoing a UFE can expect to wake up and begin the recovery process a few minutes after the procedure has ended. \u201cIt varies from patient to patient but in general, these are all medicines that are fast-on, fast-off. That is to say that whatever amount of time the procedure lasted, you can expect an additional five minutes on either end for your anesthesia. When they do wake up, they feel like they woke up from the best sleep of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Recovery<\/strong> After a UFE Procedure<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The procedure typically takes one to one-and-a-half hours to perform followed by a two to three hour recovery supervised by our experienced doctors and nurses. During this period, our anesthesiologist closely evaluates the patient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cWhen we evaluate you, we can tailor your pain management strategy to your condition,\u201d says Dr. Gupta. \u201cWe at VIVA EVE have a whole spectrum of pain medication that we can administer. Every patient is a little bit different, so we don\u2019t treat just one-size-fits all. We tailor our pain management to each patient\u2019s needs and medical issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Discharge After a UFE Procedure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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When patients are discharged, they\u2019re usually kept comfortable by following the regimen outlined on their discharge papers. However, patients are free to call the office at (888) 388-8805 (the phone number is helpfully listed right on the discharge instructions) if they have urgent questions or concerns. If the call is made outside our office hours, an answering service representative will help connect the patient with the doctor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cIf patients are feeling a lot of pain and discomfort, we squeeze them in to be seen by a doctor right away,\u201d says Little. \u201cIf they can\u2019t come in, which happens, we always have the doctor call them and give them further instructions. We do our best to promptly communicate the patient\u2019s needs so that they are helped and treated as fast as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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At Viva Eve, we strive to provide exceptional patient care, before, during, and after patients undergo their life-changing UFE procedure. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Here\u2019s a look at the journey a patient goes through before, during, and after the UFE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":1269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[34,35],"class_list":["post-2895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fibroids","tag-fibroids","tag-ufe"],"featured_image":{"blog-river":{"src":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/fibroids-img-1-645x504.png","width":645,"height":504,"srcset":false,"alt":"fibroids illustration"}},"the_categories":[{"id":25,"name":"Fibroids","slug":"fibroids","taxonomy":"category","link":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/blog\/category\/fibroids\/"},{"id":34,"name":"Fibroids","slug":"fibroids","taxonomy":"post_tag","link":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/blog\/tag\/fibroids\/"},{"id":35,"name":"UFE","slug":"ufe","taxonomy":"post_tag","link":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/blog\/tag\/ufe\/"}],"the_author":"Katherine Muniz","formatted_date":"June 14, 2021","acf":[],"estimated_read_time":4,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2898,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895\/revisions\/2898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaevecom.kinsta.cloud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}