Hysterectomy is an operation to remove the uterus from a woman’s body. It is called a total hysterectomy when the uterus and cervix are removed, and it is said to be partial when only the uterus is removed. It is one of the most common gynecological surgeries for women. This surgical method will make the patient unable to give birth in the future and will also affect the level of hormones in the body. Therefore, this process is only recommended under certain conditions.
A hysterectomy can be done for the following reasons:
- Cancer of the cervix, cancer of the cervix or cancer of the ovary.
- Uterine fibroids that cause bleeding or pain.
- Uterine prolapse, in which the uterus falls from its original position into the vaginal canal.
- Chronic pelvic pain.
- Endometriosis.
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Adenomyosis, a thickening of the uterus.
This surgery is performed under these conditions when other treatments have failed to resolve the above issues. This surgery can be performed after examining the cause and the type of surgery is determined accordingly. In some cases only the uterus may need to be removed, in other cases the uterus and cervix may need to be removed. With a supracervical hysterectomy, only the upper part of the uterus is removed. Total hysterectomy removes the entire uterus and cervix, and radical hysterectomy removes the entire uterus, cervix, upper part of the vagina, and tissue on the side of the uterus .
Depending on the cause and the health of the patient, there are different techniques for performing this surgery. The two types of techniques are open surgery and PID or minimally invasive. In open surgery, an incision is made from side to side or up and down over the abdomen and the uterus is removed. This is an abdominal hysterectomy and the most common type. There are many options in PID surgery, such as vaginal hysterectomy, laparoscopic hysterectomy, laparoscopic vaginal hysterectomy, and laparoscopic robotic hysterectomy.
When using laparoscopy, a laparoscope is used, which is a tube with an illuminated camera inserted through an incision. PID hysterectomy is advantageous over open hysterectomy because it recovers faster, has less pain, is less likely to get infected, and has less scarring. After the minimally invasive procedure, women can return to their normal routine in 3 to 4 weeks. MIP is also cheaper than open trades. The doctor will decide which type of technique is applicable to you, taking into account your health and other conditions.
It is not a high risk surgery, but a low risk. Most women who have undergone this procedure do not have any complications. In some cases, complications such as vaginal prolapse, chronic pain, urinary incontinence, and fistula formation can occur.
If a woman’s ovaries have also been removed, menopause occurs immediately, and if the ovaries have not been removed, menopause occurs earlier than usual. The doctor may advise the patient not to lift heavy objects and not to have sex for about 6 weeks after the procedure. Overall, this surgery relieved many women from the pain they were experiencing from the illness it was causing.