Abdominal Hysterectomy – Is There a Better Method?
The abdominal hysterectomy accounts for the majority of hysterectomies performed in the United States. The operation traditionally involves the making of a horizontal incision from hip bone to hip bone. Sometimes a vertical incision is etched from navel to pubic bone. However, advances in technology will most likely one day make these traditional surgeries obsolete.
New equipment has already made it possible for a hysterectomy to be less evasive. Women who have a laparoscopic procedure, also known as a minimally invasive practice, are able to return home much sooner and total recovery time is also much quicker.
With laparoscopic surgery, a video camera is used to transmit images onto a video screen where surgeons can see images of the inside of a patient’s body without making the larger incision associated with an abdominal hysterectomy. Instead, a series of small incisions are made and tubes are put through the half-inch cuts.
This minimally invasive surgery can be used to perform a total abdominal hysterectomy, in which the cervix and uterus are removed, or a subtotal procedure, in which only the uterus is removed.
Laparoscopic instruments are unable to duplicate many of the complex maneuvers that the human hand is able to carry out in relation to surgical procedures. Thus these type operations are limited to less complicated situations. More complex abdominal surgery is still better carried out by the human hand.
However, the field continues to advance and there are new devices that allow a surgeon to place a hand in the abdomen and perform many of the functions that were once limited to open surgery.
Here are some of the benefits of the less invasive operation:
• Much smaller scars
• Shorter hospital stays and quicker overall recovery
• Less pain and discomfort following the procedure
• Possibly, less internal scarring
If you completely want to avoid a hysterectomy surgery, go with an alternative treatment or option. You can read more success stories at Hystersisters about hysterectomy options and alternatives.
