MCG Health System is the first in the area to offer women a noninvasive option to the traditional abdominal hysterectomy.

Complete laparoscopic hysterectomy is the latest innovation for women seeking an alternative when faced with having a hysterectomy. Nationally, there has been an increased interest in minimally invasive procedures due to their decreased morbidity and more rapid recovery times.

"Academic medical centers across the country are moving toward this procedure as the norm," said Dr. Sean Francis, Director of Urogynecology at MCG Health System. "We are doing everything we can to avoid having to open the abdominal area because the laparoscopic procedure offers so many more benefits."

These benefits include a faster recovery, less pain, a shorter hospital stay and at least 25 percent less blood loss during surgery. The cosmetic aspect is also an important consideration: With the laparoscopic procedure, the largest scar is one centimeter in length while traditional abdominal incisions can be as long as 15 centimeters.

According to Dr. Francis, laparoscopic hysterectomies involve the skills of two surgeons. Four tiny incisions are made-a one-centimeter incision in the belly button, through which a tube with a camera on the tip is inserted, along with one 10-millimeter incision and two five-millimeter incisions, through which special surgical instruments are used. Carbon dioxide gas is used to inflate the abdominal area, enabling surgeons to view the interior organs more easily. The surgery takes about as long as an abdominal hysterectomy-about two hours.

"Women suffering from heavy menstrual bleeding that does not respond to medication, fibroids, pelvic or uterine prolapse, frequent infections, ovarian or uterine cancer and cancers of the lymph nodes may all be candidates for a laparoscopic procedure," said Dr. Francis. Laparoscopic hysterectomy is an option for most women, except for those with a particularly large uterus or other contraindications such as pulmonary disease that prevent inflation of the belly.

A related procedure is laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy. MCG Health System has offered both laparoscopic hysterectomy and laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy for the past two years.

To make an appointment, call 706-721-4959 or 706-722-5947. For more information on urogynecology, visit the MCG Urogynecology web page.

MCG Health System is composed of three separate organizations -- MCG Health, Inc. and the clinical services offered by the faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia and the members of the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation. The physicians of MCG Health System are community physicians, faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia, or employees of the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation, not employees of MCG Health, Inc. MCG Health, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCG Medical Center, MCG Children’s Medical Center, the MCG Sports Medicine Center, MCG Ambulatory Care Center, the Georgia Radiation Therapy Center and related clinical facilities and services. MCG Health, Inc. was formed to support the research and education mission of the Medical College of Georgia and to build the economic growth of the CSRA, the state of Georgia and the Southeast by providing an environment for faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia and the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation and community physicians to deliver the highest level of primary and specialty health care. For more information, please visit www.MCGHealth.org.