What Is A Vaginal Hysterectomy?
When the cervix and the uterus are surgically removed by operating through the vagina, this is called a Vaginal Hysterectomy.
This procedure has been a standard in gynecology for over 50 years. In the 1970's it was commonly performed as a sterilization procedure, hence many gynecologists trained during that time gained a great deal of experience in performing the procedure. As the rate of hysterectomy has declined and as other methods have been developed, more recently trained gynecologists have had less experience performing this procedure.
When it is surgically possible to perform Vaginal Hysterectomy, then the laparoscopic approach has few advantages when the surgeon is equally skilled at both. There are some situations which increase the risk of vaginal hysterectomy, however: multiple prior Cesarean sections, other major abdominal surgery, past pelvic infections, endometriosis, etc.
Hospital stay is usually 1 night and recovery time is approximately 2-3 weeks.
In most circumstances, if a woman has not delivered a full-term baby vaginally, the hysterectomy is more easily accomplished by the laparoscopic route. There is now good evidence that less blood is lost in a laparoscopic hysterectomy than in a vaginal procedure.