This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Clinical features

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The majority are asymptomatic or are noticed by the patient as a non-tender, non-painful abdominal swelling.

Common symptoms include:

  • abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB)
    • most common symptom of uterine fibroid
    • heavy menstrual bleeding
      • associated with intramural and submucous fibroids
      • may lead to iron deficiency anaemia
    • intermenstrual bleeding is unusual
  • abdominal bloating, and a sense of heaviness in the lower abdomen, due to the abdominal swelling
  • pelvic pressure symptoms
    • urinary frequency, urgency
    • urinary incontinence
    • difficulty with urination
    • hydronephrosis
    • constipation
    • tenesmus
  • pelvic pain
    • is not generally a feature
    • severe pain may occur during red degeneration, especially during pregnancy, or with torsion of a pedunculated subserous fibroid
    • colicky pain may occur from extrusion of a subserous fibroid through the cervix.
  • infertility - submucous tumours may interfere with implantation of the blastocyst, or cause early abortion
  • dystocia - tumours in the lower uterine segment may obstruct labour (1,2,3)

Signs:

  • very large fibroids may be palpated abdominally
  • vaginal examination usually reveals - a firm, irregularly enlarged uterus that is non-tender; an exception is one undergoing red degeneration which may be very tender
  • consistency is variable - from rock hard in the calcified postmenopausal fibroid, to soft, even to cystic if degenerative changes have occurred
  • most fibroids move with the cervix - except if subserous, detached and parasitic
  • bruits may be heard during auscultation of large tumours; they are similar to the uterine souffle of pregnancy

Reference:


Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.