Abdominal hysterectomy: definition, procedure, risks • hello healthy

Definition

What is abdominal hysterectomy surgery?

An abdominal hysterectomy is performed to remove all or part of the uterus with an incision in the abdomen. During surgery, your doctor can remove the uterus or ovaries if they feel necessary.

Doctors often perform this operation for the treatment of prolonged menstrual cycles and heavy bleeding. In addition, this surgery can treat other diseases such as uterine fibrosis and oophorocystosis.

Precautions & warnings

What should I know before having an abdominal hysterectomy?

Before surgery, you should seek and consider other treatments. Prolonged menstrual cycles can be treated with drugs, contraceptives, or surgical removal of the uterine wall.

If your doctor thinks the location and size of the oophorocystosis doesn't require surgery, the doctor will prescribe medications to control symptoms. If the medication is not effective, there are other treatments such as removing the cyst or reducing the embolization of the uterine artery.

It is important that you understand the precautions and warnings before surgery. Discuss with your doctor if you have questions.

Before surgery, your doctor will perform several tests to check if you can have surgery. The surgeon will also choose the type of surgery that is right for you. The tests required are:

a Pap test (known as the Papanicolaou test), which early detects the presence of abnormal cervical cells or cervical cancer.
endometrial biopsy, which detects abnormal cells in the endometrium or checks for the presence of endometrial cancer.
Pelvic ultrasound, which helps doctors identify the size of uterine fibrosis, endometrial polyps, or ovarian cancer.

Before the test, the doctor will give you several medicines to clean the digestive tract. This is a necessary process in surgery. In addition, you need to clean your vagina (vaginal douche) to reduce the risk of infection before and after surgery. Right before surgery, the doctor will inject antibiotics through a vein to reduce the risk of infection after surgery.

The operation is performed under anesthesia. Usually takes one hour. First, the surgeon makes an incision, which is usually below the navel line in the abdomen. Then, the surgeon will pull and open the abdominal wall to both sides and insert an instrument to remove the uterus. In most cases, the surgeon will also remove the cervix.

During surgery, in addition to an incision in the abdomen, the surgeon will make several incisions in the vagina to make it easier to remove the cervix.

After surgery, you will need to be hospitalized for several hours for recovery. The doctor will:

observe if you have abdominal pain
give some medicines to reduce pain and prevent infection after surgery.
helps you to get up immediately and walk around the room after surgery for recovery

After surgery, you usually have to stay in the hospital for 1-2 days, sometimes longer. After surgery, you must use sanitary napkins because blood and vaginal fluids will flow a lot. Vaginal bleeding can last from a few days to several weeks. You should be aware that if you bleed as much as you do during your menstrual period, you should tell your doctor right away.