Hysterectomy side effects
This article is part of a series - Hysterectomy
Hysterectomy side effects include
- excessive bleeding
- damage to nearby organs e.g. bladder, gut
- infection
- pulmonary embolism
You are more likely to develop side effects of a hysterectomy:
- if you are obese
- if you are having a hysterectomy because of cancer
- if you have any medical condition e.g. diabetes
- the older you are, the more likely you are to develop complications.
Death resulting from side effects of a hysterectomy are rare in most good centers in the US, about 1-2 per thousand surgeries, and none in some cases. Complications may occur in about 25% of women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy and 50% of women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy.
Some hysterectomy side effects are minor while others are life threatening.
There has been a lot of concern about decreased sex drive and difficulty in achieving orgasms even when the ovaries are intact. Studies have shown no difference in sexual or bladder function after a simple hysterectomy for non-cancerous disease.
I had a hysterectomy in 2003, he took only my uterus, but I’m still having a light period once a month. It last’s for about 2-3 day’s. Can you please tell me why that’s happening?
Hi Cathy. Seeing as I don’t know exactly how your doctor did the operation it’s difficult to say. If any part of the uterus is left behind then you will experience bleeding, maybe your uterus wasn’t completely removed? Apart from that, if you have endometriosis (ie uterine tissue that exists outside the uterus) it behaves just like normal uterine tissue and leads to bleeding in each cycle. Your doctor is actually in the best position to answer that question. Have a good day.