Hysterectomy: What are the risks of surgery?

by | Hormone Health, No Silly Questions, Sexual Health, Women's Health

The risks of having a hysterectomy, in other words, your uterus removed, are really not much different from any other operation.

It’s wound infection, deeper infection than that, blood loss. Those would be the main problems after a hysterectomy. There are other problems, depending on the extent of the operation, as some women can experience some sexual dysfunction afterward, some pain on sexual intercourse.

Of course, it depends on whether the ovaries are removed at the same time, because then you’re going to be dealing with a problem of premature menopause and require hormones and so on, depending on the age.

A hysterectomy is not something that you would enter into lightly, because it is a major operation with the usual complications of surgery.

Dr Norman Swan, Physician and Journalist