Laparoscopic Hysterectomy (Keyhole Uterus Removal)

For some women, periods end up running the calendar. You pack spare clothes for work, and the tiredness never lifts because the bleeding keeps pulling your haemoglobin down. For others it's a dragging pelvic ache from fibroids or adenomyosis that tablets only dull.

A laparoscopic hysterectomy removes the uterus (womb) through three or four cuts of about 0.5 to 1 cm in the abdomen. The surgeon works with a thin camera called a laparoscope and long, fine instruments, watching a magnified picture on a screen. The uterus is freed from its ligaments and blood supply and usually taken out through the vagina, along with the cervix. The ovaries can be kept or removed, depending on your age and the reason for surgery.

Afterwards you won't have periods and can't become pregnant, so it's an operation for women who have finished their family or have no safer option. For most, the bleeding stops for good and much of the pain goes with it. Compared with open surgery, the keyhole route usually hurts less and means a stay of a day or two, and most women are back to normal weeks sooner.

In our gynaecology department, fibroids, ovarian cysts and other uterine problems are treated by keyhole surgery in dedicated laparoscopy suites. We'll talk through smaller options with you first, such as myomectomy or a hormonal coil, and suggest a hysterectomy only when it's the right answer for you.

It's usually offered once medicines or smaller procedures have failed or aren't suitable. The common reasons are benign (non-cancerous).

The outside scars are small, but there's a proper wound inside, at the top of the vagina, so pace yourself even when you feel well.