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Summary

A hysterectomy is surgery to remove a woman's uterus or womb. The uterus is the place where a baby grows when a woman is pregnant. After a hysterectomy, you no longer have menstrual periods and can't become pregnant. Sometimes the surgery also removes the ovaries and fallopian tubes. If you have both ovaries taken out, you will enter menopause.

Your health care provider might recommend a hysterectomy if you have:

• Fibroids
• Endometriosis that hasn't been cured by medicine or surgery
• Uterine prolapse - when the uterus drops into the vagina
• Cancer of the uterine, cervix, or ovaries
• Vaginal bleeding that persists despite treatment
• Chronic pelvic pain, as a last resort

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

Start Here

• Hysterectomy (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• I Had a Hysterectomy. Do I Still Need to See My Ob-Gyn? Do I Still Need Pap Tests? (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
• Ovarian Cancer: Still Possible after Hysterectomy? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• How Cancer Surgery Can Affect Sex for Women (American Cancer Society)
• Laparoscopy (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Oophorectomy (Ovary Removal Surgery) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Images

• Hysterectomy - Series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hysterectomy (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The Impact of Early Postoperative Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise on Urinary...
• Article: The relation of heavy or prolonged bleeding during the menopause transition...
• Article: Treatment outcomes and the role of surgery in gestational trophoblastic neoplasia:...
• Hysterectomy -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Female Reproductive System (National Cancer Institute)
• Reproductive System: Female Anatomy (National Cancer Institute)

Find an Expert

• Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health Also in Spanish
• How to Find Find an Ob-Gyn (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)

Patient Handouts

• Hysterectomy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hysterectomy - abdominal - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hysterectomy - laparoscopic - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hysterectomy - vaginal - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish