If someone you know needs a hysterectomy, there are now two laparoscopic
surgical options, called Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy (LSH) and Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy (TLH), which are less invasive, less painful, reduce body scarring, can often be done an outpatient basis, and have a reduced recovery periods, according to Dr. Edward Marici of Columbia Memorial’s Women’s Health Center.
Doctor Marici, along with Women’s Health gynecologists/surgeons Marcel Hinds, Tanya Mays, Suzanne Mesidor, and Lawrence Perl are the only surgeons in the region doing the procedures, especially the TLH, other than an oncological group in the capital district who remove cancerous cervixes.
LSH is a partial hysterectomy that preserves your cervix, and often the ovaries, removing only the diseased uterus.
According to Marici, sometimes women also need the cervix removed as well as the uterus because of pre-cancerous cells, abnormal pap smears or endometriosis. Often patients who have abnormal pap smears cannot have an LSH but need a Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy.
Both procedures use a thin, lighted instrument called a laparoscope, along with small surgical instruments that are all inserted through 3 to 4 tiny incisions (less than 1/4 inch each) in the navel and abdomen.
“Using the instruments, our surgeons carefully separate the uterus from the cervix and remove it through one of the openings,” said Marici.
According to Marici, in the LSH, the cervix, the bottom part of the uterus, is left intact. Because this type of surgery does not require the surgeon to make a large abdominal incision, typically 6-8 inches, there isn’t the scarring typical with most traditional surgeries. In the TLH, there is also no large incision.
“The procedures can be done on an outpatient basis, which means a woman can be home resting comfortably within 24 hours and back to her normal activities in less than a week,” said Marici.
“Operating times are shorter, as well,” he said.
