Minimally Invasive Gynecological Disease Surgery Options to be Discussed

Improved surgical solutions to gynecological issues such as excessive menstrual bleeding, pain, ovarian cysts, and fibroids will be discussed at a February 17, seminar on Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgery at Washington Hospital in Fremont.

Women who suffer from these and other gynecological issues are encouraged to attend the seminar led by Obstetrician-Gynecologist Dr. Stacie Macdonald of the Washington Township Medical Foundation. The free seminar will be from 1 – 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, in the Conrad E. Anderson Auditorium in the Washington West Building, 2500 Mowry Avenue, Fremont.

Dr. Macdonald will discuss how minimally invasive surgery can treat a number of benign gynecological problems that previously have been subject to traditional abdominal surgery, and options for permanent birth control and the benefits for each option.

“Women no longer need to have abdominal surgery with a six-week or longer recovery time for many benign gynecological diseases,” Dr. Macdonald explained. “The advantages of minimally invasive surgery, also known as laparoscopic or hysteroscopic surgeries, for benign gynecological diseases are a shorter recovery time, less blood loss and a faster return to normal life.”

As recently as five years ago, more than 56 percent of all hysterectomies for benign disorders were abdominal. “That type of surgery is no longer necessary for most women with diseases such as excessive bleeding, excessive pain, fibroids,” Dr. Macdonald said.

Minimally invasive surgery generally falls into two categories:

• Laparoscopic — a small cut is made in the abdomen and a thin, lighted tube and miniature surgical instruments are used for the necessary medical procedures.
• Hysteroscopic — a miniature camera and instruments are inserted through the vagina and used for the necessary medical procedures.

Dr. Macdonald will discuss both options, her views on robotic gynecologic surgery, and explain the most common gynecologic diseases requiring treatment.

Fibroid tumors are very common benign growths in up to 80 percent of all women but most women are not bothered by the fibroids, according to Dr. Macdonald. However, she added, those women who have difficulty with fibroids can be treated medically or by minimally invasive surgeries and therapies. Some treatment options are available for women wishing to preserve fertility, depending on the individual patient’s medical circumstance.

While fibroids are the most common cause of gynecological disease, other common benign diseases are endometriosis, adenomyosis, and ovarian cysts.

Endometriosis is a painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus in other areas of the pelvic regions including the ovaries, bowel or tissue lining of the pelvis. Adenomyosis, which is much less common, occurs when tissue that normally lines the uterus grows into the muscular wall of the uterus, often late in childbearing years after having children.

Fibroids, endometriosis and ovarian cysts often can be treated with minimally invasive surgery, Dr. Macdonald said, but a hysterectomy is the treatment for adenomyosis.

Dr. Macdonald will present detailed information on gynecologic diseases and explain the various surgical options during the seminar and answer questions from the audience. Those planning to attend the seminar, which is limited to 80 persons, may register online at www.whhs.com or by calling 800.963.7070.