Will women embrace less painful and less time-consuming alternatives to traditional hysterectomy? Is the removal of the cervix in hysterectomies obsolete when applying a surgical technique called “Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy LSH”? Do women patients drive new procedures in GYN/OB medicine?
The laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy, sometimes called LSH for short, is not a new innovation. A few pioneering gynecologists began promoting it almost 30 years ago as video-assisted surgery developed. ..
- The procedure is so much less invasive than other hysterectomy procedures that women and doctors often call it the “painless” or “bloodless” hysterectomy.
- Recovery time is much shorter than other types of hysterectomies. Many women report leaving the hospital within a day and returning to routine activities within two weeks, compared to recovery times of four to six weeks for other types of hysterectomies.
- Because LSH makes it easier to keep more of a woman’s reproductive organs intact, specifically the cervix, she will need fewer surgeries in the future.
A hysterectomy involves removing the uterus, or womb. While other parts of a woman’s reproductive system, such as the ovaries or fallopian tubes, may or may not be removed during a hysterectomy, most women are familiar with the terms “total” or “partial” hysterectomy. A total hysterectomy involves removing the entire uterus, which includes the lower, narrow part known as the cervix. As the name implies, only the upper part of the uterus is removed in a partial hysterectomy.
Either way, surgeons have traditionally removed an organ, whole or partial, through an abdominal incision, similar to a C-section, or a vaginal incision.
Virtual video game
The LSH procedure makes use of long-standing laparoscopic technology, enabling surgeons – assisted by lighted telescopes inserted into the body – to monitor and manipulate instruments during operations as if surgery were a virtual video game. Compared to other hysterectomy procedures, LSH gets by with smaller incisions, which leads to less blood loss during surgery.
Instead of removing the uterus whole, the surgeon performing LSH uses an instrument that essentially cores uterine tissue like an apple corer as it is removed through one of the incisions…
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