Ergot, gallic acid, hydrastis, bromide of potash, and erigeron are useful to control the bleeding. They should be administered in frequently repeated doses for a long period.
Thorough curetting of the cavity of the uterus is the most certain method of controlling the hemorrhage. By this procedure the diseased endometrium is removed, and the bleeding is usually very decidedly diminished for several months afterwards.
The treatment by electricity, once popular with some physicians, has not stood the test of time and experience. It does not stop the growth of the tumor. It has caused many deaths. It may produce peritoneal adhesions, which render subsequent operation most difficult.
Ligature of the arteries supplying the uterus has been performed with the object of arresting the growth of a uterine fibroid. The results of this operation, however, have not been satisfactory.
Salpingo-oöphorectomy has been practised for a number of years, and a large number of fibroid tumors have been cured by it. Before the present perfected technique of hysterectomy had been developed salpingo-oöphorectomy was much the safer operation, and was always practised whenever possible.
The object of the operation is to cause arrest of growth and atrophy of the tumor by stopping menstruation and producing a premature menopause.
According to the statistics of Tait, the operation results in cure of the fibroid in 95 per cent. of the cases.
In some cases the bleeding stops immediately and never recurs; in other cases the bleeding continues, in steadily diminishing amount, for several weeks or a few months after the operation; and finally, in a small proportion of the cases, the bleeding is not arrested at all.
The atrophy of the tumor after this operation is also variable. Sometimes the atrophy begins immediately, and in a few weeks after the operation has proceeded to a very marked degree, the tumor disappearing or being so small as to give no trouble; in other cases the atrophy is much slower; sometimes there is no arrest of growth whatever.
The operation seems to produce most benefit in cases of the hard fibroid. The edematous fibroid is often unaffected by it; and it is not applicable in the case of fibro-cystic tumors, which continue in unabated growth.