Since the removal of the uterus is a complicated operation that has serious consequences, it traumatizes the body not only physically, but also psychologically, then such operative intervention is done for certain indications.
Planned operation for removal of the uterus - readings
These include:
- malignant tumors of the uterus, its cervix and appendages;
- prolapse of the uterus or a significant lowering of the uterus;
- multiple large nodes on the uterus, fast-growing, complicated by severe bleeding, especially in the period of premenopause;
- necrosis of fibromatous nodes;
- endometriosis of internal type, complicated by bleeding;
- sex change;
- abnormal severe uterine bleeding .
Uterus removal: types of operations
By the number of organs that are removed during surgery, it is divided into:
- total (remove the uterus with the neck);
- subtotal (only the body of the uterus is removed);
- Hysterosalpingoariovectomy (the uterus and its appendages are removed);
- radical (remove the uterus, appendages, surrounding tissues with lymph nodes, cervix and part of the vagina, often used in malignant tumors).
By type of transaction:
- Open cavity operation . The removal of the uterus is carried out through the front wall of the abdominal cavity.
- Vaginal operation . The removal is made through the vagina.
- Laparoscopic surgery to remove the uterus . Any access by means of a laparoscope through a small incision can include a robotic hysterectomy.
The latter two types of interventions are more sparing, reduce the risk of complications and the recovery period after surgery. And the duration of the operation for the removal of the uterus depends not so much on the type of the chosen intervention method as on the surgeon's ability, but it is influenced by the indications to the extension of the intervention or the complications that have been revealed during the operation.
Removal of the uterus - preparation for surgery
The correctness of conducting the preoperative period is often directly related to the success of the operation. If the operation is carried out for multiple fibroids, the preparatory period may be several months and includes taking hormonal drugs to reduce the size of the node.
If the uterus is removed by other indications, then a few days before the operation, antibiotic therapy is prescribed for the prevention of infection, which continues in the postoperative period.
On the eve of the surgery, table No. 1 (ground liquid food), cleansing enema and premedication, which is repeated before the operation, is prescribed. On the day of the operation, a catheter is inserted into the bladder, which remains there for another 24 hours. In the course of surgery, endotracheal anesthesia, epidural or spinal anesthesia is most often used.
Removal of the uterus: life after surgery
Recovery after the operation of removing the uterus is long. Most depends on what the operation was performed: only the removal of the uterus, or uterus and appendages, as well as the age of the woman.
The consequences after surgery for the removal of the uterus and ovaries are, first of all, the menopause, which comes along with all the attendant symptoms in the first days after the intervention.
If the ovaries were removed in the pre-climacteric or menopause, then as a rule, hormone replacement therapy is not prescribed, but if the removal of the uterus and appendages was performed at a young age, the woman will have to take sex hormones for a long time.
With the removal of the uterus without ovaries, they continue to function, and therefore without strong evidence they are not removed not only in young, but also in adulthood. But, during the onset of menopause, they are often removed, motivating by the fact that together with the ovaries they remove the possibility of developing a cancer process in them, they also act with the cervix.
Other consequences of the removal of the uterus directly depend on the complications that arose during the operation and from the disease itself, about which the uterus was being removed (injuries of neighboring organs, bleeding, infection complications, cancer after surgery and its relapse, thrombosis).