Hysteroscopic Polypectomy

The uterus consists of two types of tissue, the endometrium (lining tissue) and myometrium (muscle tissue). The inside of the uterus is covered by the endometrium and both endometrium and myometrium has a tendency of developing a benign or a malignant tumor. The benign tumors however, are the most common ones in both the cases. The tumor on the emdometrium is known as endometrium polyp. Since there is a huge chance of these polyps to contain malignant cells, as well as non-malignant cells, they are needed to be removed for further tests and medical analysis. It is the removal of these polyps is known as hysteroscopic polypectomy.

Description of Hysteroscopic Polypectomy

In this procedure an instrument is inserted into the uterus through vagina, called an operative hysteroscope. This instrument is generally attached to a camera that makes it possible to project the image of the endometrium onto an attached screen. An electrode is then introduced that makes it possible for the polyp to be removed from directly dissecting it from the root. This procedure takes about 5 to 10 minutes to perform and it is usually done under general anesthesia.

Polyps are responsible for a number of abnormalities in a woman’s body. To name a few, these abnormalities may include, heavy menstrual bleeding, irregular bleeding often times between normal periods, before the cycle starts or ends. And this list also includes abnormal bleeding even after a woman has reached or crossed her menopausal age. Polyps are also responsible for infertility in woman of a fertile age. They may make it difficult to conceive and fall pregnant. However, having said these, there are cases where polyps do not cause any symptoms in the woman and it can only be detected through an ultrasound scan, otherwise the polyp remain untreated.

Advantages of the Procedure

There are a number of advantages in performing a hysteroscopic polypectomy on a woman. These advantages are accepeted throughout the medical realm and it is better to get an idea on them. The advantages include:

• The procedure of hysterscopic polypectomy is not at all a time consuming procedure. As stated it takes around 5 to 10 minutes for the whole surgery.
• Hysteroscopic polypectomy, in many a cases, is the only way to diagnose certain medical conditions, as an analysis of the tumor will reveal what needs to be done further.
• As the instrument is inserted through the vagina into the uterus, there are no cuts and stitches involve in the procedure.

Risks Involved With the Procedure

Now that you have acquired knowledge on the advantages of the procedure, here are the risks that you should also gain through knowledge on. Like any surgical procedure, hysterscopic polypectomy also involves its share of risks and complications. These include:

• A potential risk of infection, mainly in the urinary tract from where the instrument passes. However, antibiotics are given before the surgery to prevent that from happening.
• Though rare, complication of volume overload due to exis of use of distention medium also can cause serious complications. However surgeon takes adquete precations to avoid the same.