Women whose Fallopian tubes are removed during sterilization via laparoscopy have only marginally more surgical complications than those whose tubes are simply cut, a study shows. The removal, salpingectomy, is a safe procedure that can help protect against future ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is a relatively rare yet serious disease with an insidious progression, lacking early symptoms.
Late detection means that the prognosis is often poor. According to WHO around 440,000 women in the world are diagnosed each year. In more than half of cases, the cancer appears to start in the Fallopian tubes before spreading to the ovaries.
Women who undergo sterilization can already be offered salpingectomy. The procedure is known as opportunistic salpingectomy and is established practice in gynecological surgery for pathological changes. Until now, however, it has not been known whether the procedure entails more surgical complications, which may lead to many women opting out.
The current study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, looked specifically at surgical complications. Little difference between the groups Almost a thousand women who were due to be sterilized via laparoscopy took part in the study and were randomly assigned to receive either standard sterilization in which the Fallopian tubes are cut (499 women) or extended surgery with salpingectomy (473 women). Complications of tubal surgery can include bleeding during surgery, prolonged pain, urinary tract infec.