Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy

Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy is a hysterectomy in which doctors leave most or a portion of a woman's cervix behind. It has been increasingly used in more than 600,000 hysterectomies performed in the U.S. every year. In the past, most doctors gave women the choice of an abdominal hysterectomy or vaginal hysterectomy. These hysterectomies that remove both the uterus and the cervix sometimes result in other problems such as incontinence and sexual dysfunction.

"We claim advantages in that the operation is fast, least traumatic for the pelvic floor and it's only taking out the pathology or the medical problem", said Dr. Liselotte Metter, a leading German researcher in supracervical hysterectomies. "The doctors think that the total is the only approach, but if a patient understands that she has less trauma and she has no higher incidence of the danger of cancer, she accepts it very well".

A joint study published in January 2002 by the University of Indiana and New York University medical schools found that 43 percent of total abdominal hysterectomy patients (TAH) experienced a decrease in the ability to achieve orgasm compared with six percent of supracervical patients. It also revealed that further advantages of supracervical over TAH included decreased operative morbidity and reduced risk of urinary and sexual dysfunction.

Why a hysterectomy?

It is the second most common major surgery among women of child-bearing age. Hysterectomy may be done to treat conditions that affect the uterus. Some reasons a Hysterectomy may be needed include:

  • Uterine fibroids
  • Endometeriosis
  • Pelvic support problems (such as uterine prolapse)
  • Abnormal uterine bleeding
  • Cancer
  • Chronic Pelvic Pain