With Laparoscopy and Modern Medicine, Hysterectomy Surgery Continues to Evolve
There have been significant improvements in hysterectomy surgery since
the first documented one was performed by Charles Clay in 1843. He was a surgeon based in the England and,
after diagnosing the patient incorrectly, the surgery was unsuccessful in
curing the woman's condition. The
surgery's failure was primarily due to the invasiveness of the procedure.
The first time an abdominal hysterectomy was successfully completed was
in 1853 by a surgeon based in Massachusetts.
This was quite a feat for the time, but, again, the patient was
diagnosed incorrectly. It seemed
surgeons were starting to catch on to how to complete a successful hysterectomy,
but were doing it under the wrong circumstances. Plus, even when they were done under the right circumstances, women would have to
suffer through a painful post-op and be left with a large scar.
Thankfully, today, OBGYN surgeons have the technology and skills to
successfully diagnose and treat women in need of a hysterectomy. Laparoscopic
hysterectomy surgery allows for minimally invasive surgical practices,
short hospital visits, quick recovery times and minimal scarring.
Fast forward over 100 years from the 1800s to 1988 to just south of Massachusetts
in Kingston, Pennsylvania. This is where
Harry Reich performed and successfully completed the first laparoscopic
hysterectomy. From that point forward,
the surgery started to evolve. Now, nearly
100% of laparoscopic hysterectomies performed by qualified doctors are
successful in the U.S. Over the years, the
once-common problems with the minimally invasive surgery have been targeted and
fixed.
Even though the majority of laparoscopic hysterectomies are successful
today, sometimes there are minor complications.
However, as medicine evolves, these complications lessen. Developments in pharmacology and interventional
radiology are all being used and improved to increase patient comfort and
reduce complications.