HealthDay: Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries

HealthDay recently interviewed Rebecca J. Schneyer, MD, a resident in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program at Cedars-Sinai, about a study she led that found Black and Hispanic women were less likely than white women to receive minimally invasive treatment for uterine fibroids. 

In the study, which was published in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, Schneyer and her co-authors examined the health records of 1,311 women who underwent surgery for uterine fibroids between 2015 and 2020 at Cedars-Sinai. They found that most patients received a minimally invasive procedure removing either fibroids or the uterus.

But the data revealed racial gaps in care. The researchers found that 81% of white women included in the review underwent a minimally invasive procedure versus only 57% of Black women and 65% of Hispanic women.  

Schneyer said a possible explanation is that Black and Hispanic women were not referred by their doctor to a subspecialist due to implicit biases. However, she believes that disparities in awareness could be the main reason. White women may know more about minimally invasive options or be more likely to seek a second opinion.  

"A lot has changed in the past 20 years," Schneyer told Health-Day. "More often than not, minimally invasive surgery is an option." 

Although traditional surgery is safe, it causes more pain and blood loss and requires a longer recovery period than minimally invasive procedures. Schneyer's study found that 80% of Black women will have uterine fibroids by the time they reach age 50, and one-quarter of Black women will have fibroids by age 30.

Compared with white women, Black women have more fibroids, suffer more intense symptoms, and undergo more surgeries. "That's all the more reason we should be trying to reduce disparities in care," Schneyer told HealthDay. 

Click here to read the complete article from HealthDay.