Essure And Adiana Tubal Occlusion

Both the Essure and the Adiana occlusions are similar and require the same procedure to reverse them.

On November 5th, 2007 our facility performed the first Essure tubal reversal, not only was it a first for our facility, but to our knowledge it was the first done anywhere in the world. Our first “Essure” baby was born on January 27th, 2010 and again, this was a first for any facility and was widely reported in the press.

Let me tell you how these devices work. The anatomy of your uterus can be compared to a familiar model. If you imagine your upper body is your uterus,
(forget about your head, neck and legs), your tubes come out of your uterus like your arms come out of your shoulders. The Adiana and Essure devices block the tube right at the shoulder where the tube meets the uterus.

To reverse the Essure and Adiana occlusions, which are supposed to be irreversible, you need to remove the material left in the fallopian tube and attach healthy tube back to the uterus. These devices are the diameter of the lead in a pencil and both contain substances that incite a tissue reaction. We have just submitted for publication a description of our technique. The proper name for this operation is “tubocornual neoimplantation”. The old method to do a tubocornual implantation required making a new hole in the uterus and left the patient at risk for uterine rupture, which is can be fatal for both mother and baby, and requiring any births to be done by cesarean section. We have developed a way sew the healthy remaining tube to the natural uterine opening after removing the Essure or Adiana device. The tube needs to be sewn deep inside the uterus in it’s original location, not just stuffed into a new hole and sewn to the outside of the uterus. The procedure that we do should not weaken the uterus in any way.

To reverse the Essure and Adiana tubal occlusion we had to develop a special needle because the dimensions are so tiny and we feel the secure placement of the tube is critical.

We have done 42 Essure reversals and have 7 confirmed pregnancies, 3 live births, 3 miscarriages and one baby still in the womb. Several other women have had X rays that show their tubes are open. These Essure and Adiana reversals don’t work as well as other types of reversals but we feel that we are now at a point where we are not surprised when they get pregnant, more that we expect that a majority will get pregnant as they do with other types of reversals.

As with all the other types of reversals that we do at Lakeshore Surgical Center we dye test the tubes before you wake up to make sure thy tubes are properly connected. With Essure and Adiana reversals we also look inside your womb with a tiny telescopic device, a hysteroscope, to make sure the opening in the uterus is ready for you to conceive and properly connected on the inside.

The charge to do an Essure or Adiana reversal is higher than our standard fee. Everything that is included in our normal fee is included with the Essure and Adiana reversals but because it takes 2 doctors to perform this procedure the fee is a little bit higher

Please call our office and speak with a Case Management Specialist who will be able to answer any questions you have. If you call in the afternoon most days you can talk to me if you care to.

Learn more about Essure Tubal Occlusion.