Subtotal Hysterectomies May INCREASE Incontinence Rates

All decisions with hysterectomy have risks and benefits. For some women there are over-riding reasons to have a subtotal hysterectomy. For others the decision to keep your cervix may be based on personal preference rather than scientific fact. Hysterectomy means removal of the uterus, so if you have had a removal of the uterus, but your cervix was conserved, this is called a subtotal hysterectomy. The term partial hysterectomy is not a clinical term used by gynos although women may refer to hysterectomy without taking the ovaries as a partial hysterectomy and it really doesn't refer to the taking of the uterus. In a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology showed that in fact there was no improvement in incontinence rates if the cervix was left, and preliminary studies show that the rates of incontinence could actually increase if a subtotal hysterectomy rather than a complete hysterectomy were to be performed.

Other considerations for your health if you have had cervical conservation are to be discussed with your gyno. She will likely tell you this will not impact your sexual pleasure as orgasms are from the clitoral area, and not the cervix. If you keep a cervix at the time of the hysterectomy you still need pap smears according to the plan established by your gyno. But a woman with no cervix after a hysterectomy is not routinely (excluding those with cancers and precancers) recommended to have a pap smear in any of the current guidelines. This includes the organizations: ACS, ACOG, USPSTF, ASC, ASCCP just to name a few. Don't confuse pelvic examinations with pap smears. Pelvic examinations can determine the health of your vagina, the health of your vulva, the health of your urethra, feel your inner organs, and determine your pelvic floor muscle health, just to name a few of the benefits.

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Passing Your Uterine Lining, Menstrual Period Norms

Decidual Cast Periods can be fairly easy, passing some tissue at a time, or off can come the whole lining in one piece called a decidual cast. Generally the lining of the uterus is only 6-8 mm thick at the time of the menstrual period, and it is shed gradually, a few cells at a time. The decidual cast is when the entire lining passes spontaneously. It's not uncommon, but it usually both uncomfortable, and alarming to some. But us women are designed to have some sort of periods Or Not? We have to pass tissue each month. Or Not? Are they good for us? Or Not? Do we want them? Or Not? Is this something that is individual? Or Not? It's a complex topic that I will be discussing a lot over my time in this blog. So lets start with basics: How much do we bleed and what are we loosing, and just what was this that the patient passed? And another basic: track your periods, and the Women's Health Practice site http://www.womenshealthpractice.com/media/pdf/menstrual_chart.pdf you...

Post-Endometrial Ablation Syndrome

If you have had an endometrial ablation and have developed symptoms of pelvic pain you might have post endometrial ablation syndrome. What is post-endometrial ablation syndrome? It is a constellation of symptoms due to entrapped blood or tissue within a uterus that has previously undergone an endometrial ablation. We are able to diagnose this at Women's Health Practic e but occasionally other conditions are causing similar symptoms. Other complications of endometrial ablation include pregnancy, risks from pre-existing conditions such as a polyp or fibroid, an infection of the uterus, or a pregnancy. If you have had a tubal ligation then it is possible that the condition could be post-ablation tubal sterilization syndrome. The ablation procedure is designed to destroy all lining tissue, but in fact there is no way to confirm the completeness of the ablation. It is thought that either residual or regrowth of the tissue is producing the symptoms of post-endometrial ablation syndrom...

You Have an IUD: But a Positive Pregnancy Test

Fortunately IUD pregnancy failures are rare. But if you have an IUD for contraception, and you get a positive pregnancy test, you probably ask yourself, what next? Well, make your gyno appointment promptly, this is a condition that is not typically an emergency, but it can be and it’s not handled over the phone or on a blog, or through self diagnosis! That being said, some researchers from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas decided to look back at over 4100 women who had IUDs and of those 42 cases who became pregnant in their institution, over about a year period of time, to help understand what these women could expect when they got to their gyno and what actually happened to their pregnancies. Accurate pregnancy diagnosis, pelvic examination, and pelvic ultrasound were the cornerstones of the evaluations. They had very specific ways they looked at their ultrasound to prove there was no pregnancy in the fallopian tube, or partially in the fallopian tube...

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