What Is the Uterine Artery?

It is emitted from the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery and has a diameter of about 2mm. It passes through the base of the broad ligament of the uterus inward and downward, and is about 2 cm from the outer side of the cervix and crosses from the front of the end of the ureter to the uterine side.

It is emitted from the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery and has a diameter of about 2mm. It passes through the base of the broad ligament of the uterus inward and downward, and is about 2 cm from the outer side of the cervix and crosses from the front of the end of the ureter to the lateral edge of the uterus.

Chinese name

Uterine artery

Foreign name

uterine artery; arteria uterina

Short name

uaau

Types of

Female organ

Uterine Artery Overview

Uterine arteries are divided into upper and lower branches above the vagina and uterine neck (above the lateral dome). The upper branch is thicker and runs up along the side wall of the uterus, which is called the uterine body branch. When it reaches the uterine horn, it is divided into the bottom branch, the ovarian branch, and the fallopian tube branch. The last two branches are respectively connected with the ovarian branch of the ovarian artery. The fallopian tubes coincide. The lower branch is thinner and is distributed in the cervix and upper vagina. It is called the vaginal branch of the cervix and it matches the vaginal artery and internal genital artery downwards. Therefore, the upper, middle, and lower sections of the vagina are nourished by the cervical vaginal branch of the uterine artery, the vaginal artery, and the internal genital artery, respectively. The body branches of the uterine artery divide many vertical arched arteries on the way up the uterine side wall. These arteries pass through the uterine muscle layer to the midline direction, and the radial arterial branches branch into the endometrium at right angles. The radial artery divides the endometrial basal artery and the spiral artery (terminal branch) into the endometrium. The basilar artery feeds the basal layer of the endometrium, which is not affected by hormones; the spiral artery extends into the functional layer of the endometrium, and its diameter changes due to the effect of ovarian hormone levels. After pregnancy, the spiral artery will undergo a series of physiological changes to meet the needs of embryo growth and development.

Laparoscopic uterine artery occlusion

Laparoscopy is used to block bilateral uterine arteries, reduce uterine blood flow, achieve the purpose of reducing intraoperative bleeding, reducing the difficulty of surgery, improving the safety of surgery, and improving the postoperative results. This technique is generally used to remove multiple, large or special parts of uterine fibroids before laparoscopic hysteromyoma removal surgery; before laparoscopic hysterectomy, large irregular uterus with irregular shape is removed; pelvic endometriosis Or adenomyosis surgery, to achieve postoperative dysmenorrhea and reduce the effect of menstrual flow.

When bilateral uterine arteries are blocked during laparoscopy, the uterine blood flow rapidly decreases. After 6 to 12 hours, the uterus gradually relies on the traffic branch to restore blood supply. During this process, the uterus undergoes the pathophysiological stages of hypoxia-reoxygenation and ischemia-reperfusion. Due to the relatively active degree of uterine leiomyoma cell division and poor tolerance to ischemia and hypoxia, irreversible degeneration and necrosis of fibroid cells occurs, especially for microfibroids. In addition, ectopic endometrial lesions in the uterus also cannot tolerate ischemia and hypoxia and cause necrosis. Necrotic ectopic endometrium cannot be regenerated due to lack of support of the basement membrane, so it also inhibits the recurrence of ectopic lesions.

The application of laparoscopic uterine artery occlusion has widened the surgical indications for uterine fibroids removal and hysterectomy, so that many previously considered contraindications can be safely performed under laparoscopy. During laparoscopy, the main artery of the uterus is blocked, the blood flow of the uterus is rapidly reduced, and the volume of the fibroids and the uterus is reduced due to ischemia. Therefore, the surgical operation is reduced in difficulty. Safety; in the process of uterine ischemia and hypoxia, degeneration and necrosis of fibroid cells, especially for microfibroids, have a more dramatic effect, so it can inhibit the growth of fibroids and reduce the recurrence rate of fibroids.

Before laparoscopic hysterectomy, uterine artery occlusion is applied to reduce uterine blood flow perfusion, reduce bleeding during processing of uterine and paracervical vessels and tissues, clear vision, avoid the occurrence of ureteral injury, and significantly improve the safety of surgery Sex.

In addition, laparoscopic uterine artery occlusion can effectively improve the efficacy of uterine fibroids after removal, reduce menstrual flow, and improve quality of life. This procedure can also significantly improve dysmenorrhea and menstrual symptoms in patients with adenomyosis. Laparoscopy can perform uterine arterial occlusion while performing adenomyoma removal, ablation of pelvic endometriosis, ablation of ovarian endometriosis, pelvic adhesion release, phrenic nerve resection Alleviation of symptoms such as sexual intercourse pain is more thorough.