The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been concerned about the danger of power morcellators for the past several months. The main concern is that women who use power morcellators for hysterectomy, myomectomy, or other similar procedures may develop cancer as a result of power morcellator use.

However, new findings suggest that other power morcellator side effects and complications aside from cancer may follow from this laparoscopic surgical tool.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins found three cases where women who had undergone a power morcellator hysterectomy developed uterine disease side effects that were not cancer.

Power Morcellator Side Effect Cases

One 36-year-old mother of four underwent a power morcellator hysterectomy. Several soft tissue tumors developed allegedly as a direct result of the surgery. The tumors required the removal of parts of her ovaries, colon, spleen, diaphragm, and other organs.

In another case, a 51-year-old woman with two children complained of abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting after her surgery. Doctors found that she had developed a bowel obstruction and mass in her pelvis after her power morcellation surgery. She had to have her right ovary and fallopian tubes removed as a result.

Another 51-year-old mother of two suffered from abdominal pain, painful urination, and pressure on her pelvis. She had developed a 15 centimeter wide abdominal mass that required the following parts of her body to be resectioned: uterus, bladder, colon, omentum, left ovary and fallopian tube.

The researchers ultimately found that “open power morcellation of the uterus may be associated with clinically significant dissemination of uterine disease” even in cases of benign diseases. These new power morcellator side effects are in addition to the allegations that power morcellators can cause cancer.

The report was published in the January issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Power Morcellator Risks

Power morcellators (laparoscopic power morcellation surgery) are used for a number of surgeries including the removal of the uterus, the ovaries, the fallopian tubes, and fibroids. The tool allows physicians to cut up the uterus, ovaries, and other organs through a small incision in the abdomen and remove the tissue through the same incision.

Women might choose a power morcellator hysterectomy because there is less scarring involved as well as a shorter recovery time. The tool, which is used in about 50,000 women for this kind of surgery each year, is also supposed to minimize power morcellator side effects. 

Yet, about one in 350 women who undergo laparoscopic surgery may have sarcoma already in their bodies which was previously undetected. The power morcellator then allegedly causes the cancer cells to spread and tumors to grow.

The FDA has recommended that laparoscopic hysterectomies be avoided so that power morcellator cancer is not a risk. The agency suggested that there is no real safe way to use the devices.

The FDA met over the summer to discuss the health risks associated with power morcellators, such as the Ethicon Gynecare Morcellex and Karl Storz Rotocut G1 Morcellator. They began to questions if the devices should be recalled or if a black box warning should be added.

In November, the FDA announced that a stronger black box warning about power morcellator cancer would be added.

Power Morcellator Side Effect Lawsuits

Many individuals have filed morcellation cancer lawsuits claiming that they were not warned about the risk of developing power morcellator cancer. It has also been suggested that the power morcellators were not properly tested.