The risk of cyclic bleeding after LSH is quoted to be 5 to 10 percent, and is usually very minimal, described as spotting for a few days every month. At this time, cost may be the only real early disadvantage with LSH, which is higher in the surgical suite for LSH than TAH due to the disposable instrumentation that is needed for laparoscopy. However, if the length of hospital stay and the patient’s time out of work are calculated, hysterectomy with LSH is associated with a much lower cost. Most women are out of work for six weeks after TAH; after LSH, women miss one week of work at most and comment that they were doing most activities within a few days after surgery. At many centers, patients are discharged the day of LSH as an outpatient procedure, and with TAH, women typically spend three or more nights in the hospital waiting for the return of bowel or bladder function. Postoperative pain has been studied in all forms of hysterectomy, and LSH patients have a dramatically much lower need for postoperative pain medication.

The fear of cervical cancer continues to be a common reason gynecologists in the United States avoid performing abdominal or laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomies. Numerous studies have documented that the risk of cancer of the cervix in women who have had a previous cervical-sparing hysterectomy is 0.11 percent if the endocervical canal was cauterized during the procedure. If abnormal cells are noted on a pap after LSH, a colposcopy can still be performed for evaluation.

LSH is an outstanding alternative to abdominal hysterectomy in many cases; the procedure provides major benefits to patients with low complication rates, and more rapid recovery and return to normal activity. Martha Jefferson Hospital offers this minimally invasive procedure to women who desire an option to abdominal surgery when a hysterectomy is required.