Here are 6 trends highlighted by the report, produced by Millennium Research Group.
1. The global hysterectomy alternatives market will generate more than $700 million in 2012, primarily driven by expanding GEA procedure volumes. In the United States, this expanding GEA procedure volume is expected to increase the market value of GEA devices from about $300 million in 2006 to about $550 million in 2012.
2. In the United States, the number of GEA procedures performed in physician offices and ASCs will continue to expand over the next five years. This shift will occur because reimbursement levels for the procedures in these settings make these treatments lucrative for physicians. “The availability of a sufficient level of reimbursement has facilitated gynecologist adoption of GEA and, as a result, the procedure has become the gold standard for treating menorrhagia, an abnormally heavy menstrual period,” says the report.
3. The UAE segment “comprising microspheres, PVA particles and embolization coils” will also expand due to demand for its efficacy treating fibroids and its minimally invasive nature; however, an inefficient referral process between “gynecologists, who generally manage patients suffering with uterine fibroids, and interventional radiologists, who perform the UAE procedures,” is a challenge.
4. The use of endometrial resection will decline in the United States in favor of less-invasive treatments. “Adoption of procedures such as GEA and UAE will cannibalize endometrial resection procedures through 2012,” says the report.
5. Hysterscope use will increase with the growth in popularity of hysteroscopic procedures, such as transcervical female sterilization. The demand, especially for rigid versions of the scopes, but for the flexible versions as well “because the superior image quality afforded by these devices enhances diagnostic capabilities” will drive up the value of the U.S. market to about $40 million annually in 2012. However, the high cost of the devices remains a challenge in adoption of the technology.
6. Over the next five years, it is predicted that the “number of alternative procedures for menorrhagia will experience strong single-digit growth, while alternative procedures to treat uterine fibroids will grow until they surpass the number of hysterectomies performed for the same condition.”
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