An abdominal myomectomy is a surgical procedure that is carried out in order to have fibroids removed from the uterus. Unterine fibroids are tumors that develop in the woman's womb and are round or semi round in shape. The primary cause of uterine fibroids is unknown; however, studies have shown that there are a number of contributing factors. For instance, some of the more common factors that play a role in the development of uterine fibroids include family history of the problem, race and age. In most cases, the presence of fibroids causes no complications or even shows any symptoms – leaving most women unaware of their presence within their bodies. In cases where symptoms are encountered, the more common ones include pressure in the region of the uterus, pelvic pain and pressure on the rectum with pain during defecation. The serious risk that untreated uterine fibroids are known to cause in some cases is a miscarriage during pregnancy.
The abdominal myomectomy is a procedure where the surgeon makes a horizontal incision in the abdomen and removes the fibroids from the uterus through this opening. Abdominal myomectomy recovery does not usually take too long when the procedure is carried out by an experienced surgeon. Minimizing blood loss during the abdominal myomectomy is essential and can be executed by using a laser to make the incision into the uterus as it simultaneously seals the blood vessels and reduces the bleeding. Another method is for the overseeing surgeon to inject some medicines into the uterus in order to shrink the blood vessels in the region. After the abdominal myomectomy procedure has been performed, the abdominal myomectomy recovery timeline will vary from one individual to another. In most cases, the woman should be able to return to work that is not physically straining within a couple of weeks with the average recovery time being about 4 weeks.
There are a number of different methods of surgically performing the procedure, which can be medically defined by the abdominal myomectomy CPT code mentioned in the patient's medical report. Studies have shown that having a uterine myomectomy performed in an effort to have the fibroids removed has a very beneficial effect on increasing the chances of getting pregnant for women that have been facing a problem in having a child because of the presence of fibroids.
Some of the risks that a patient needs to be careful about include infection of the uterus or other organs in the region, injuries to the bladder as well as the bowel, the formation of scar tissue as well as the infertility as a result of scarring of the uterine incision.