Uterine fibroids are benign (non cancerous) growths in the uterus. They are the most common type of growth found in a women's pelvis, being present in about one in four or five women older than 35 years. Although many women with fibroids are not aware of them,the growths may cause symptoms or problems due to their size, number, or location. Common symptoms can include longer or more frequent menstrual periods, heavy bleeding, menstrual pain, pressure in the lower abdomen, infertility, or miscarriages. Women with these symptoms will require treatment. Fibroids can be treated with surgery, such as myomectomy (removal of the fibroids while leaving the uterus in place) or hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). Another approach is uterine artery embolization, by which the blood vessels to the uterus are blocked. Drugs, such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, may be used to shrink fibroids and to control bleeding.
Herbal preparations are commonly used alternatives for drug treatment, surgery, or both. This systematic review included two randomised clinical trials involving 150 women with uterine fibroids. Compared with medication, two herbal preparations may have similar beneficial effect on the shrinkage of uterine fibroids or uterus. However, these clinical trials are small in terms of the number of participants and the trial quality varied. The effect of herbal preparations for uterine fibroids therefore needs to be studied in further large, good quality trials.