Hysterectomy is a common surgical procedure in which the surgeon removes the uterus of a woman. This surgery is useful for women who suffer from heavy pain, irregular bleeding, and vaginal cancerous diseases. As it can bring relief from these problems, it is important to know the long-term complications of a hysterectomy. In this blog post, we will discuss a closer look at hysterectomy, what it is, who needs it, their surgery methods, and also understand the long-term complications in brief.
What is a Hysterectomy?
Hysterectomy treatment is one type of surgical procedure in which the surgeon removes the uterus with ovaries from the woman’s body. It helps to reduce the regular pain, heavy bleeding, and improve overall health condition. The purpose of this surgery is to save from some cancerous diseases like endometriosis, fibroids, and uterine cancer. This surgical procedure requires after surgery to 2-6 day of hospital stay and 4-6 weeks for full recovery.
Who Needs a Hysterectomy?
A hysterectomy is needed when a woman has a serious health condition that is connected with the uterus or vagina. It is usually required when the other treatment has not worked, and a uterine removal is important. Here we mention some common reasons for choosing the hysterectomy surgical procedure:
- Women who are experiencing pain during intercourse.
- Feel difficulty while urinating
- Uterus or ovarian cancers
- Heavy or irregular period
- Chronic lower back pain
What are the Long-Term Complications of a Hysterectomy?
Here, we will mention the long-term complications of a hysterectomy, which increase the chances of developing after this surgery.
Early Menopause
When a total hysterectomy surgery is performed and the surgeon removes the ovaries with the uterus, then menopause can happen suddenly. In the menopause, women’s menstrual bleeding stops, and the hormones decrease. Their symptoms are like hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, or may feel difficulty sleeping. Sometimes it can also happen without ovaries removed due to a low blood supply.
Hormonal Imbalance
During surgery, when the ovaries are removed with the uterus, the balance of hormones is disturbed in a patient. It can affect the patient’s love life and overall health. Hormonal imbalance can increase the risk of depression, mental health issues, and heart problems. So always take care of your diet and changes in daily routine, or live a healthy life.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse
When the uterus is removed from women, the muscles of the pelvis can get weak, and the top of the vagina may prolapse after surgery. In their symptoms, the patients may feel pressure, discomfort, and urine leakage. It can cause a urinary problem that affects the patient’s daily work and routine. Immediately meet with your consultant when this happens and get proper treatment.
Urinary Problems
Some patients may develop a problem with urination (urine leakage or irregular urination) after this surgery. This problem can arise due to changes in the position of pelvic muscles or the bladder. It can affect the woman’s health and create problems in her life. So visit your doctor and take a treatment or medication to solve this problem.
Bowel Problems
In some cases, patients may feel pain from gas and diarrhea, and may also experience difficulty with bowel movements after this surgery. This can happen due to a change in the position of the intestines, nerve damage, or weakness in the pelvic floor muscles. It is important to get a healthy diet and follow-up plan with your health consultant.
Changes in Sexual Function
Some women may experience a reduction in sexual activity, like losing interest and mood swings, or may feel heavy pain during sexual intercourse after the hysterectomy surgery. It may happen due to the removal of the uterus with both ovaries. If there is pain and bleeding in the uterus after this surgery, they will experience little relief. And their sexual life is more happening than earlier too.
Emotional and Psychological Effects
After this surgery, women lose their chance of pregnancy due to the removal of the uterus and experience stress or depression. They never conceive pregnancy and do not plan for a baby. These things can affect their body and cause emotional issues and mental disturbance. Some women are happy after this surgery, and some feel stressed or get depressed.
Types of Hysterectomies
There are multiple ways of hysterectomy treatments, but which one is needed depends on the patient’s health condition or problems. Here we discuss some of the common types of hysterectomy that are usually used:
- Partial Hysterectomy (Supracervical Hysterectomy) Surgery: In this type of surgery, the surgeon removes the upper part of the uterus body and leaves the cervix area during surgery.
- Total Hysterectomy Surgery: In the total hysterectomy surgery, the surgeon removes the total part of uterus with the cervix intact and the fallopian tubes from the woman’s body.
- Total Hysterectomy with Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy (TAH-BSO): It is the major surgery in which the surgeon removes the whole part of the uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes with both ovaries. In this surgery, patients take more time to recover.
How is a Hysterectomy Done?
Hysterectomy is a common surgery in which the surgeon removes the uterus through some surgical steps or methods. This surgery can be done through various techniques, it all depends on the patient’s condition, health, and the doctor’s advice. Here we mention 4 common ways to do a hysterectomy:
- Abdominal Hysterectomy
- This process is used when the uterus is oversized.
- In this process, the surgeon makes a small cut in the stomach and removes the uterus.
- In this, the process of recovery is slow (usually 4-6 weeks).
- Vaginal Hysterectomy
- This process is used when the uterus size is acute or normal.
- In this method, the surgeon will remove the uterus through the vaginal canal.
- In this, the patient feels low pain and early recovery.
- Laparoscopic Hysterectomy
- In this process, the surgeon creates a small/tiny cut on the stomach of the patient and uses the laparoscope (a small camera) to perform this surgery.
- Surgery will be done through a monitor.
- It reduces the pain and faster recovery.
- Robotic-Assisted Hysterectomy
- It is the same as laparoscopic surgery, but it is performed through robotic arms that the doctor can control.
- It is highly expensive, and fewer people can afford it.
What happens During Surgery?
- Before surgery doctor may ask for some tests, including MRI scans, Ultrasounds, and Blood tests.
- Given to you a general anesthesia, to numb you and help to sleep during surgery.
- Surgery will take 1 to 3 hours to perform.
- Hospital stay may be 2 to 6 days, depending on your health condition and the type of surgery.
- The doctor may ask to visit and meet after surgery to avoid any long-term complications of a hysterectomy.
What are the Risks of a Hysterectomy?
This surgery also carries some risk with benefits that can be cared for during or after surgery.
- Bleeding: Bleeding can occur during surgery. This is common.
- Infection: In some cases, the patient may feel pain and fever due to a wound and pelvic infection after surgery.
- Blood clots: There is an increased chance of developing blood clots in the legs or lungs.
- Anesthesia problems: Due to the administration of anesthesia, some people’s bodies cannot accept and react, or a breathing problem can arise.
- Recovery time: Some patients need extra care or time to recover (6-8 weeks) and require extra care.
Conclusion
Hysterectomy surgery helps many women to live a better life from chronic pain and unusual cancer diseases. It helps in many things, such as lower back pain, heavy bleeding, and urination during sexual activity. As it has many benefits, it also carries some long-term complications after a hysterectomy.
There are a lot of complications or problems that can affect the woman’s health, so it is important to make a healthy diet plan, and after a week or a month, visit your regular doctor for further improvement or any suggestions.