Researchers in Sweden have now conducted the first uterine transplants to result in live births. Admittedly they were in mice, but the results are positive. This research followed on from the successful transplant of a uterus into a woman in Saudi Arabia, the results of which were published earlier in the year. As with any pioneering treatment of this nature, there are a number of issues to contend with, not least the ethical questions that will inevitably arise.
Researchers in Washington recently completed work on considering the complications associated with leaving the cervix in place following hysterectomy and total hysterectomy which removes the cervix as routine.
The study sought to determine if there was any association between obesity and peri or postoperative complications after hysterectomy for non-malignant bleeding disorders. Data from 444 vaginal hysterectomies and 503 abdominal hysterectomies indicated by benign bleeding disorders were drawn from a regional database. Data on peri- or postoperative complications and postoperative stay were related to preoperative body mass index (BMI).
Recent research into whether different types of hysterectomy affected sexuality after hysterectomy presented in the BMJ has said that, women experienced an improvement in sexual function and pleasure, irrespective of the type of hysterectomy that they had had.
447 women aged between 60 and 80 of which up to 122 had undergone either hysterectomy and oophrectomy (removal of the ovaries) or only oophrectomy.
According to a committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, supra cervical hysterectomy, which leaves the cervix intact, does not appear to have any clear benefits over a total hysterectomy, which removes the cervix as well as the uterus, in women with non-cancerous disease and should not be recommended as a superior technique.