HYSTERECTOMY SURGERY - MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE SOLICITORS

According to the World Health Organisation the highest incidence of medical negligence in the developed world occurs in Australia. If you have been injured by a healthcare professional including a doctor, dentist, nurse or technician and would like to speak to a medical negligence law firm without further obligation, just use the helpline. If you have a viable compensation claim a hysterectomy surgery medical negligence lawyer who deals exclusively in personal injury claims will speak to you. Our personal injury lawyers offer free advice and information on how best to preserve your legal right to receive compensation as a result of injuries caused by medical negligence. Merely speaking to one our our hysterectomy surgery lawyers does not commit you to dealing with our lawyers nor will you receive any bill for the initial advice that you receive from us. Our lawyers telephone advice is given without charge and without further obligation. Do yourself justice and call our specialist personal injury law firm today.

Our hysterectomy surgery medical negligence lawyers have solicitors offices situated in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin.

Hysterectomy Complications

A hysterectomy is an operative procedure in which the female uterus is removed. Sometimes the uterus alone is removed and other times, the Fallopian tubes and ovaries are removed along with the uterus. Hysterectomies are common surgical procedures done on women with an estimated 300 out of every 100,000 women having a hysterectomy in their lives.

Women have hysterectomies for a number of reasons including:

  • Having uterine fibroids, non-malignant tumours of the uterine wall that can grow to become too large or can push on other pelvic organs.
  • Abnormal vaginal bleeding, which can be caused by many different things, both malignant and non-malignant.
  • Endometriosis, which results from uterine tissue passing out of the uterus into pelvic tissue.
  • Uterine prolapse, in which the uterus begins to fall out of the vagina due to poor pelvic musculature.
  • Uterine cancer. Only about 10 percent of hysterectomies are done for this reason.
  • Cervical dysplasia. This is a pre-cancerous condition of the cervix. The best treatment in many cases is to remove the entire uterus along with the cervix.

The most common reason for a hysterectomy is a uterine fibroid or uterine leiomyoma. These are growths that can occur on the outer wall of the uterus, the midportion of the uterine wall or the inner uterine lining. Those on the inner lining tend to bleed extensively and those on the outer wall tend to grow on a stalk and get very large. A hysterectomy is done if the uterine fibroid is very large or if the bleeding necessitates transfusions or causes anaemia.

Women who have weak muscles in their pelvic suffer from what’s known as pelvic relaxation. The uterus falls through the vagina due to gravity. This is an uncomfortable sensation and many women with the condition elect to have a hysterectomy. The problem can otherwise get so severe that the uterus itself is located outside the body. Muscle loosening can also cause a urethrocele, rectocele or a cystocele.

Hysterectomy Procedures

Historically speaking, hysterectomies were done through cutting the main incision through the abdominal wall. Called an abdominal hysterectomy, the access to the uterus and ovaries is excellent but the risk of infection and bleeding is greater than with a vaginal hysterectomy. The stay at the hospital and postoperative pain is increased in abdominal hysterectomy. It is more expensive to have an abdominal hysterectomy than it is to have a vaginal hysterectomy.

A vaginal hysterectomy is done when the incision is made up inside the vagina where the uterus connects. The procedure results in a lesser chance of infection and bleeding but an increased chance of accidentally cutting into another pelvic structure. If at all possible, a woman should try for a vaginal hysterectomy because this is a cheaper procedure that causes less pain than an abdominal hysterectomy.

One can have a laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy. The uterus is ultimately removed through the uterus but a laparoscope is used with small vaginal incisions in order to improve visibility in the pelvic cavity. It is considered more expensive than a regular vaginal hysterectomy and has more complications. The anaesthesia time is greater than with a vaginal hysterectomy so there can be complications from that. Prior abdominal or pelvic surgery can make the procedure prohibitive because of possible scar tissue in the abdomen.

Some women have a supracervical hysterectomy. This is a surgery in which the uterus is removed but the cervix is left behind as a stump. This means that the chances of cervical cancer are still there. If you’ve had an abnormal cervical pap test, you should definitely not have a supracervical hysterectomy. It is a procedure that is sometimes performed because it is a cheaper test that takes less time to perform in the operating room. The pro of having this type of procedure is that decreases the complication of uterine prolapse.

Before a hysterectomy is performed, the doctor should perform a general physical exam, including a pap test, pelvic exam, complete blood count and ultrasound of the pelvis.

The complications of the various types of hysterectomy are pain, infection and post-operative bleeding. Abdominal hysterectomies carry a higher risk of complications.

Medical Negligence Solicitors

Our medical negligence solicitors will maximise your personal injury compensation claim using a no win no fee arrangement which means that if you don't win then you don't pay them their professional costs. If you believe that your hysterectomy was carried out negligently then just complete the contact form or email our solicitors offices or use the helpline and a hysterectomy solicitor will telephone you at no cost and with no obligation.

Hysterectomy Overview

A hysterectomy is a common procedure for woman. It is, in fact, the second most common surgical procedure done on women and refers to removing the uterus itself or along with the ovaries and fallopian tubes in about 40 percent of cases. The rate of hysterectomy is so high that thirty three percent of women will have had the procedure by the time they reach the age of sixty years. If you would like advice at no cost just use the helpline or complete the contact form and a hysterectomy surgery solicitor will telephone you with no charge and no obligation.

Hysterectomies are done for a lot of reasons. It can be done because the uterus is falling out of the vagina, a condition called uterine prolapse. It can be done for cancer of the uterus or for abnormal and heavy bleeding of the uterus. Fibroid tumours result in an enlarged uterus which pushes on the bladder and needs to be removed. Very painful periods can be a reason to have a hysterectomy, especially when a woman is certain she wants no more children. In some cases, dysplasia of the cervix or cancer of the cervix can mean a hysterectomy needs to be done, depending on how severe the dysplasia is.

Some women can have endometriosis, which is a condition where the lining of the uterus reaches areas outside the uterus, resulting in bleeding and pain during menses. If a woman isn't interested in getting pregnant, she can have a hysterectomy which removes the endometriosis along with it. The tubes and ovaries are often taken at the same time.

About ten percent of the 600,000 hysterectomies done in the US every year relate to cancer of the uterus or cervix. A hysterectomy can be done to rid the body of cancer although, in some cases, a less invasive procedure can be done to remove the cancer while sparing the uterus.

There are several risks to having a hysterectomy. For example, it is often done under general anaesthesia, which carries its own set of risks. You can have infection as a result of a hysterectomy. This is treated with antibiotics that control the degree of infection in the system and kill the bacteria. Sometimes antibiotics are used at the time of surgery to prevent an infection from occurring in the first place.

Other complications of a hysterectomy include damage to the bladder or the ureters. They are in close contact with the uterus and, if the bladder isn't emptying well, it can be punctured with a suture or with a scalpel. It can cause leakage of urine from the urinary tract into the pelvic space and can reduce the amount of urine that can come out. A fistula can form between the bladder and the vagina or other tissue so that urine chronically leaks out of the bladder through a well developed hole.

Blood clots in the legs and lungs (a pulmonary embolus) can occur in a hysterectomy, especially if the individual is allowed to lie down in bed for long periods of time after the surgery. The best thing to do is to get out of bed within a day of the surgery to allow blood flow to move through the veins of the legs. Even so, a blood clot can happen.

Bleeding is a hysterectomy complication than is sometimes unavoidable. If a stitch is not placed tightly or comes loose, there can be increased vaginal bleeding after the surgery or internal bleeding, which can be painful.

Surgical menopause happens whenever the ovaries are removed at the time of the hysterectomy. The woman suffers nearly instant hot flashes, weight gain, irritability and decreased libido as a result of a lack of oestrogen and progesterone in the system. It may be the time to replace these hormones with medications containing oestrogen and possibly progesterone. There is a risk of heart disease and breast cancer if high doses of oestrogen and progesterone are used so these things must be monitored carefully after a hysterectomy with oophorectomy (ovary removal). Alternatively, herbal supplements can be used to give back the missing hormones in the body.

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The author of the substantive medical writing on this website is Dr. Christine Traxler MD whose biography can be read here