Uterine Fibroid Surgery With Power Morcellators

In April of 2014, the FDA issued an official warning to women and doctors about the use of laparoscopic power morcellation to remove fibroid tumors. That sentence may have confused you with the complexity of the terms, but to make it simple and clear, the FDA has gone officially on record telling women and doctors that the medical devices known as power morcellators can cause serious consequences. Furthermore, the news from the FDA made it clear that the uterine fibroid surgery with power morcellators should be avoided or halted.

The reason is simple – the FDA found that one in every 350 women who had fibroids removed also suffered from uterine cancer. If all of those women had uterine fibroid surgery with power morcellators it would have put those women at great risk for their cancer to spread to almost any area of the body.

This is because a power morcellator does exactly as its name describes – breaks up tissue into “morsels” or tiny fragments. Though the devices are meant to capture the fragments, they may fail to do so, and when a patient’s uterine tissue is cancerous, it means that cancerous cells are now floating freely through the blood stream. This has occurred and is already at the heart of lawsuits.

It means that a woman at risk for uterine fibroid surgery with power morcellators must discuss the matter with their physician. For example, if you have been diagnosed with moderate to severe uterine fibroids, your physician may suggest many different options. They may ask if you want to use medications or they may indicate that your case is severe enough to warrant surgery.

There are three methods at use including endometrial ablation, myomectomy, and hysterectomy. If you are told that a hysterectomy or myomectomy is the best course of action, the first thing to discuss is whether the surgeon does uterine fibroid surgery with power morcellators. If so, ask your surgeon if that is really the best choice for your needs. Ask them to explain why uterine fibroid surgery with power morcellators is right for you.

Before you agree to anything, sit down and discuss cancer screening with your doctor. If he or she is insistent that this is unnecessary, seek a second opinion. The FDA found that many women treated with power morcellators also were positive for cancer, but their cancer was only discovered after exposure to the surgical treatment. The only way to avoid this same fate is to get a full cancer screening in advance of the surgery.

Beyond Fibroids

The seriousness of this issue cannot be emphasized. When uterine fibroid surgery with power morcellators is done, it puts a woman at risk for being “seeded” (as Drugwatch.com describes the matter) with cancer. In addition to women with uterine cancer, patients with liver and spleen issues have also suffered harmful side effects from this surgical method.

It is easy to understand the appeal of morcellators since they offer a minimally invasive approach to something even as extreme as a hysterectomy. Cutting down on trauma and recovery time while effectively removing the problematic tissue is understandably beneficial. However, the studies don’t back up these methods as safe or even effective.

If you are struggling with fibroids and have been told that surgery is the right treatment, first be sure you have undergone a cancer screening and then find out if and why a morcellator is going to be used. If you have already been treated and you discover that your surgeon used a morcellator, ask about cancer screening at the time of your surgery. Don’t hesitate to contact an attorney if you fear you were not well informed of risks and have developed health problems from this treatment.

Source

Cancer.org. FDA warns of… http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/uterine/conditioninfo/treatments/Pages/surgical-treatments.aspx

DrugWatch.com. Power Morcellators. http://www.drugwatch.com/morcellators/