197. Svay Rieng Day Four

Today's OR schedule could have come straight from any of my home surgery days.  Two enlarged uteri--fibroids--too large for a vaginal approach, so both were abdominal hysterectomies.  

Both women had never given birth, perhaps infertility caused by the fibroids.  Or perhaps reflecting the loss of a generation of men during the Cambodian genocide. 


[Next week I will be operating on a woman who finally conceived after several years of trying and an operation that removed several fibroids but left the uterus intact (called a myomectomy, the medical term for fibroids being myomas).  She has again been trying to conceive for a few years but new fibroids have appeared, so another myomectomy and crossed fingers.]

Fertility was not at issue for the 54 year old and the 43 year old declined the option of a myomectomy.

Both women experienced minor complications--the first a small tear in the bladder, easily repaired, and the second post-op fever, treated with antibiotics that I brought with me.
A reminder that any hysterectomy anywhere has about a 5% risk of complications.