Hysterectomy Techniques

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDReviewed by Sally Robertson, B.Sc.

A hysterectomy procedure can be performed in various different ways.

Some of the main techniques include:

• The abdominal incision technique, which involves removal of the womb through the abdomen.
• The vaginal hysterectomy, which involves removal of the womb through the vaginal canal.
• Laparoscopic vaginal hysterectomy, which is similar to the above but involves the use of laparoscopic instruments to carry out more complicated surgery.

For the abdominal hysterectomy, a transverse incision is made through the abdominal wall, above the pubic bone. The incision is around the size of that made for a caesarean section. This technique allows excellent access to the reproductive structures and is usually the chosen procedure when the entire reproductive system is due to be removed. An abdominal hysterectomy can take 4 to 6 weeks to recover from because the wound in the abdominal wall can take this long to heal.

In vaginal hysterectomy, the entire procedure is performed through the vaginal canal and the uterus is removed through an incision made in the upper end of the passage. This offers obvious advantages over the open surgery procedure described above, such as fewer associated risks and complications, lower infection rate, shorter hospital stay and shorter healing time.

Laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy refers to an approach which involves making small incisions in the abdomen, through which laparoscopic instruments can be inserted to view the internal organs. This is also referred to as key-hole surgery or minimally invasive surgery, due to the small incision size and low risk of operative injury. And faster post-operative recovery compared with the abdominal procedure. Laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy also enables surgeons to perform more detailed exploration and more complicated surgeries than the vaginal hysterectomy does. The procedure begins with laparoscopic processes and ends with the removal of the uterus via the vaginal canal. A more recent approach is laparoscopic-assisted supracervical hysterectomy (LASH), which uses a morcellator to cut the uterus into fragments that can then be removed through laparoscopic ports made in the abdomen. This enables the uterus to be removed from the body, without having to also remove the cervix.

Further Reading

• All Hysterectomy Content
• Hysterectomy - What is a Hysterectomy?
• Hysterectomy Indications
• Hysterectomy Risks
• Hysterectomy Types