Farrer Park Hosiptal (FPH) introduces High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in Singapore. HIFU is a new technology for the treatment of uterine fibroids, adenomyoma, adenomyosis. It is a non-invasive surgery that uses focused ultrasound to generate highly localized heat to threat tumors either benign or malignant.

Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growth in the uterus often appearing during the childbearing years. The disease is the most common type of gynecologic benign tumors occurring in women. Almost 25 to 50 percent of women in their reproductive years encounter them. Though often they do not present any symptoms, uterine fibroids sometimes do cause problems such as heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, pelvic pressure or pain, and frequent urination.

The HIFU treatment of uterine fibroids depends on symptoms in patients, size of the fibroid, desire for future pregnancy, and preference of the treatment by the gynecologist. Newer medical or minimally invasive treatment modalities are increasingly being used for the treatment of fibroids.

In the spirit of innovation and broadening treatment options for patients, Farrer Park Hospital (FPH) Singapore made HIFU treatment available for uterine fibroids since July 2017 exclusively at its Fibroid Clinic @ Day Surgery Suite.

Four renowned O&G doctors recently attended a regional conference in Singapore in July 2019 on Controversies in Minimally Invasive Surgery -- An Evolving Journey in Gynecology and gave their individual views on the efficacy of this new treatment at Farrer Park Hospital.

"HIFU provides females with the option to preserve fertility and the ability to return to normal activities after treatment. As the patient is on very little anesthesia, it allows the doctor to guide and converse with the patient," says Dr Lee Keen Whye, Obstetrician and Gynecologist specialist, Farrer Park Hospital.

Dr Choi Dong-Seok of Choi Sang Women's Clinic, Seoul Korea who has done 1,600 cases with HIFU explained, "the normal laparoscopic surgery can run into complications with long term recovery. HIFU with the non-surgical procedure can prevent these types of complications."

FPH is the first hospital in Southeast Asia to perform this treatment. Working with the China-based leading manufacturer of ultrasound therapeutic system HAIFU, FPH together with doctors from Singapore Obstetrics & Gynecology (SOG) brought this new treatment option to FPH. In recent years, HIFU has been used to treat both benign and malignant lesions of various solid organs. This non-invasive modality allows treatment of tumors without surgery and offers a new treatment option for those patients who are not candidates for surgery, or who do not want surgery. The intention of HIFU is to raise and maintain an isolated part of the tumor above 60°C for more than one second or longer, in order to cause coagulative necrosis and immediate cell death.