Hysterectomy

This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.
WikiProject Medicine or the Medicine Portal may be able to help recruit one.
If a more appropriate WikiProject or portal exists, please adjust this template accordingly.

A hysterectomy (from the Greek word histera, meaning "womb") is the surgical removal of the uterus, usually performed by a gynecologist. Hysterectomy may be total (removing the body, fundus, and cervix of the uterus; often called "complete") or partial (removal of the uterine body but leaving the cervical stump, also called "supracervical"). In 2005, there were 617,000 hysterectomies performed in the USA. During a hysterectomy, in the last decade, an average of 73% of surgeons removed ovaries and fallopian tubes during the same operation, a procedure known technically as bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and less formally as ovariohysterectomy.

This surgery is exclusively performed on those who are chromosonally female. Removal of the uterus renders the patient unable to bear children (as does removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes), and changes their hormonal levels considerably, so the surgery is normally recommended for only a few specific diseases and circumstances:

Although hysterectomy is frequently performed for fibroids (benign tumor-like growths inside the uterus itself made up of muscle and connective tissue), conservative options in treatment are available by doctors who are trained and skilled at alternatives. It is well documented in medical literature that myomectomy, surgical removal of fibroids that leaves the uterus intact, has been performed for over a century.specify]

The uterus is a hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ, and the ovaries produce the majority of estrogen and progesterone that is available in genetic females of reproductive age. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed in 2004, 73% also involved the surgical removal of the ovaries. In the United States, 1/3 of genetic females can be expected to have a hysterectomy by age 60. There are currently an estimate of 22 million people in the United States who have undergone this procedure. An average of 622,000 hysterectomies a year have been performed for the past decade.

Both the uterus and the ovaries have important life-long functions in the maintenance of a woman's health, and there is never an age or a time when the uterus and ovaries are not essential to health and well-being. Additionally, the removal of otherwise healthy ovaries is a form of castration because it involves removal of the female gonads, which many opponents and even some supporters of hysterectomy do not support.