Dangers of Laparoscopic Power Morcellation

Laparoscopic hysterectomies were initially thought to be a surgical advance that would benefit thousands of women each year.

The use of laparoscopy to perform routine hysterectomies and fibroid removal in women is now in question as evidence is showing this procedure can have deadly consequences.

Laparoscopic hysterectomies were initially thought to be a surgical advance that would benefit thousands of women each year. Instead of removing the uterus through an open incision, the use of laparoscopic tools is only one small cut in the belly button. This cuts down on the recovery time for a hysterectomy from a month or more to less than one week. In some cases it is used to save the uterus by removing the fibroids that are causing the patient pain.

The problems that are now arising from this technology is that it is inadvertently spreading cancer cells in some patients, and causing what was a treatable stage one cancer into a life threatening stage four cancer, with a 15% survival rate.

Morcellation

The culprit is a surgical procedure known as morcellation, where a small instrument that has a rapidly spinning blade is inserted into the uterus through the belly button incision. This blade breaks up fibroids so that they can be sucked out of the uterus through the laparoscope.

Surgical candidates for the procedure are routinely checked for cancer before the surgery is performed. Not all show up in the initial pathology, causing the procedure to spread the cancer cells. The rapidly spinning blade can cause pieces of the fibroids to escape into the pelvic cavity, where they seed on other organs and begin to multiply.

If traditional, open incision surgeries were performed, the fibroids or the entire uterus would be removed, along with the cancer cells they are carrying.

FDA Issues a Warning

In the wake of an alarming amount of women coming forward with grave cancer prognosis, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FDA, issued a warning this past April discouraging the use of morcellation in uterine surgeries. They specifically urge that doctors consider alternative treatment to avoid spreading deadly cancer cells outside of the uterus.

In response, Johnson & Johnson has suspended sales of their power morcellators until the FDA can come up with a definitive answer on their use in uterine laparoscopic surgeries.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

There are currently close to a dozen lawsuits pending across the US blaming the use of this power morcellator for the spread of uterine and other cancers to other parts of the body. This number is expected to grow as more women and their families become aware of the risk and possible cause of their sudden onset of a cancer that has already progressed to the deadliest stage.

If you are now being treated for cancer after the use of a morcellator please contact a medical malpractice attorney at Zevan and Davidson immediately. Families who have recently lost a mother or daughter after one of these procedures to cancer should do the same. While the device was initially approved by the FDA, the manner in which it was being used is under scrutiny. Don’t let another woman suffer unduly from this dangerous procedure. File a lawsuit with a reputable medical malpractice attorney at our law firm to show the FDA just how many women have been adversely affected by this device.

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photo credit: timsamoff via Flickr