About a third of women will have a hysterectomy by age 60, and new research shows that nearly one in five of these surgeries is unnecessary.
The new findings indicate that alternatives to hysterectomy are being underused and that treatment guidelines are often not followed, according to the study, which appears in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
More than 400,000 hysterectomies are performed in the U.S. each year. About 68 percent are for abnormal uterine bleeding, fibroids, and endometriosis.
After analyzing the records of 3,400 women, nearly 18 percent of hysterectomies were found unnecessary, and a pathology analysis for nearly two in five (38 percent) of women under 40 did not support undergoing a hysterectomy, according to researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“Despite the decrease in numbers of hysterectomies in the U.S., appropriateness of hysterectomy is still an area of concern and it continues to be a target for quality improvement,” said Dr. Daniel M. Morgan, M.D., an associate professor and the study’s lead author.
Hysterectomy alternatives include hormonal management, a minimally invasive gynecological procedure called operative hysteroscopy, endometrial ablation (a procedure that destroys the uterine lining) and use of an intrauterine device.