Myoma Operation Cost in a Philippine Private Hospital

One of our iSensey teammates underwent operation to remove myomas, it’s an elective surgery and was done in a private hospital in Cebu. We will share the information on the cost of operation on this blog post.

But first let’s have a little background of the patient’s case.

Patient first learned about the presence of multiple uterine myoma after undergoing whole abdominal ultrasound. She consulted first a gastroenterologist thinking that the pain in the stomach area was appendicitis. It was the gastro doctor who recommended that she undergo whole abdominal ultrasound. The ultrasound result shows that the internal organs in the abdomen to be ‘grossly normal’, except for the uterus wherein there are fibroids or myomas present. 

The gastro MD then advised her to visit an OB GYNECOLOGIST for proper medical care. 

Note: The patient gets menstruation or period on a regular basis monthly, however,  there are months when menstrual cramps are debilitating especially on the first day. There was even one time when she can’t get-up for one whole day for her ‘puson’ and the back of the pelvic hurts so bad. She even resorted to taking a strong pain killer, Celebrix (celexocib), in conjunction with hot compress applications on the painful area but there was little relief from both.

CONSULTING WITH AN OB GYNECOLOGIST

She visited an OB GYN and the latter advised her to undergo a TransVaginal Ultrasound or TVS. The TVS result confirmed that there are multiple myomas, 3 of which are big. This OB recommended right away that she undergo surgery to remove the myomas.

She seeked a second opinion. She went to another OB in a different hospital, this second OB also asked her to undergo TVS. The two TVS from two different hospitals shows the same result – presence of multiple uterine myomas. 

Knowing that the patient is desirous of pregnancy, this second OB explained to our teammate the situation. Removal of her myomas is recommended for the following reasons:

1. There is one myoma that’s really big – 9 cm x 8 cm x 4 cm, bigger than her uterus the OB said. The 2 other big myomas are with sizes 4 cm x 3 cm x 3 cm and 3 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm. There are a total of 9 myomas seen on the TVS.

If the myomas are small then an operation is not recommended. However, big myomas may cause complications and may need to be removed.

*When a woman reach menopause stage, the myomas tend to shrink, with some disappearing completely. 

*For tiny myomas, there are some women who says that natural treatment like castor oil packs helps them dissolve the fibroids. Personally, we don’t know anyone who was succesful in doing this so be cautious.

2. The OB explained that the changes in the hormone levels during pregnancy may also cause the myoma to get bigger as the fetus grow bigger.

It might become a waiting game of which will happen first – the myomas getting so big that it will burst and affect the baby and mother,  OR the delivery of the baby. If the baby gets delivered first, then Thank God but if the  big myomas burst first, it can be life threatening. If the myomas did not change size and you delivered the baby successfully, then you are one lucky woman. Weigh the risks, the OB said. 

3. If the patient gets pregnant and if it so happen that she needs to undergo a cesarean operation to deliver the baby, there is a risk that the biggest myoma will be accidentally touch once she’s opened,  and if that happens it may lead to massive bleeding which may be life threatening. *The location of the biggest myoma of our teammate is “delikado”.

4. Patient is complaining of intense cramps during period, this will contribute not only stress but also life quality is reduced during these painful episodes.

IMPORTANT: Each patient case is different. No one treatment fits all. We here in iSensey strongly recommends that you visit and consult with the appropriate medical specialist. Only your doctor can best diagnose your case and give advise of the proper treatment.

Our teammate followed her physician’s advise, she underwent Myomectomy, a surgery to remove myomas, in a private hospital located in Cebu. The procedure was done under spinal epidural anesthesia. The patient was admitted for 4 days in the hospital. 

Day 1: The day before the elective surgery, day of hospital admission. 

Day 2: The day of surgery. The myoma operation took almost 4 hours, after which patient was rolled to PACU recovery room for monitoring and stayed there about 5 hours until the epidural anesthesia wore off completely. Then was brought back to her room. 

Day 3: Post- operation, recovery day.

Day 4: Discharge from the hospital.

*Some myoma surgeries can be done via laparoscopy but it is more expensive. Our teammate underwent “open surgery” because her fibroids were just so big, not ideal for a lap procedure. There were a total of 16 uterine myomas removed. In the TVS only 9 were visible this is because TVS ultrasound is not capable of showing the tiny myomas.

HOSPITALIZATION AND OPERATION EXPENSE

Here are the final expense of the myoma removal surgery done in 2020 – the total hospital bill amounted to P166K. Philhealth coverage was P23,300, so patient paid out of pocket around P142K. 

If you don’t have Philhealth, no HMO, and no medical insurance, you will pay the whole amount.

The case rate for Philhealth for Myomectomy is P23,300. 

The hospital bill excluding the doctors’ professional fees was P126K, P10,700 was paid by Philhealth

Her OB Surgeon professional fee was P24k, P6,300.00 was paid by Philhealth.

Her Anesthesiologist professional fee was P15k, P6,300.00 was paid by Philhealth.

The total cost of a myoma surgery in a private hospital in the Philippines may be higher or lower depending on different factors like the doctor’s professional fee, the operation room fee, how long you stayed in the recovery room, etc. Take note that Big hospitals tend to also have more expensive professional fees, higher medicines prices, higher operation room charges, etc.

If you don’t have the budget, don’t despair, know that Philippine government-run hospitals conduct free myomectomy. Getting an operation schedule will take time, some says the waiting period can be several months. This is because the patient queue in government hospitals especially for an elective surgery is really long. Have yourself listed in the hospital as soon as possible.

If you have HMO like Medicard, Maxicare, Intellicare, etc or have a private medical insurance, know that most of them covers myomectomy operation. To be sure, check with the respective customer service representative of your HMO or insurance company, ask if you are covered and how much is the coverage – if full or just a fraction of the operation cost. 

If you can afford it, apply for an HMO coverage, it will help in paying for hospitalization and medical emergencies.

If there is someone who have undergone myomectomy anywhere in the country reading this, please share in the comment section how much was the total expense so other readers will have more info on price range of this surgery.  Please indicate province or city and total bill and year of operation. You may also indicate the name of the hospital but please don’t indicate the name of the attending surgeon in keeping with the patient-doctor confidentiality. Thank you. 

iSensey recommendation: Continue paying Philhealth because this national health insurer can help when you are hospitalized or when undergoing specific medical procedures.