A supracervical hysterectomy removes the upper part of the uterus and leaves the cervix in place. It is also called a subtotal or partial hysterectomy. If you are about to have one, or you have already had one, the cervix that stays behind (doctors often call it the “cervical stump”) is still a living part…
A hysterectomy removes the uterus. It does not automatically remove the ovaries, but many women are asked before surgery whether they want their ovaries taken out at the same time, and some only find out afterwards that they were. The choice matters: if both ovaries are removed before menopause, menopause starts straight away, and the…
A salpingectomy is surgery to remove one or both fallopian tubes, the thin tubes that carry an egg from the ovary to the uterus. The ovaries stay where they are and keep making hormones, so a salpingectomy on its own does not cause menopause.[1] It is done for several reasons: to treat an ectopic pregnancy…
A robotic hysterectomy is a keyhole operation to remove the uterus in which the surgeon controls the instruments from a console using a robotic system. It is often called a da Vinci hysterectomy, after the most widely used system. The name makes it sound futuristic, but the robot does not operate on its own: every…
vNOTES is a way of doing a hysterectomy entirely through the vagina, but with the camera and long, thin instruments used in keyhole surgery. Because nothing is cut on the belly, it is sometimes described as “scarless” hysterectomy. It is newer than the other routes, the first vNOTES hysterectomy was reported in 2012, and it…
A laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy, usually shortened to LAVH, is a way of removing the uterus that combines two techniques. The surgeon starts with keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery through a few small cuts on the belly, then finishes the operation through the vagina, which is also where the uterus comes out. This guide explains how LAVH differs…
A vaginal hysterectomy removes the uterus through the vagina, with no cut on the belly. Major gynecology guidelines and the largest review of randomized trials agree that, when it is technically possible, it is the route to consider first for non-cancer conditions: recovery is faster than after open surgery, the hospital stay is shorter than…
What your scar looks like after a hysterectomy depends mostly on one thing: how the surgery was done. An open (abdominal) operation leaves one longer scar, keyhole surgery leaves a few small ones, and a vaginal hysterectomy leaves no visible scar at all. This guide shows what each type of scar usually looks like, how…
A partial hysterectomy is surgery that removes the uterus but leaves the cervix in place. If your doctor has mentioned it, or you’ve just had one and are trying to understand what was done, this guide explains what the surgery involves, how it compares with other types of hysterectomy, what the research says about keeping…
If your surgeon has offered you a choice between a partial and a total hysterectomy, the decision comes down to one organ: the cervix. A partial hysterectomy (also called supracervical or subtotal) removes the body of the uterus and leaves the cervix in place. A total hysterectomy removes the uterus and the cervix together. Many…
A laparoscopic hysterectomy is an operation to remove the uterus through a few small cuts in the abdomen, using a thin camera and long, narrow instruments. It is often called keyhole or minimally invasive hysterectomy. Compared with open surgery through a larger abdominal incision, most people go home sooner and get back to their usual…