Medical technology innovations such as the power morcellator might make some medical procedures simpler, but they can come with complications. The morcellator is often used for hysterectomies and other procedures peformed on women, but has recently been suspected of posing a serious risk of spreading cancer.

The laparscopic power morcellator’s association with cancer got attention in December when leading American hospitals acknowledged the medical device may have led to the deaths for several women. This led scientists to question whether the morcellator is worth using.

The issue with laparoscopic power morcellation cancer was announced following the death of an anesthesiologist who died following a procedure. The victim, Amy Reed, was an employee at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital in Boston. Reed’s death caused many hospitals to either stop using the devices or question how they are used.

It also spurred the now nearly routine practice of disclosing cancer-spreading concerns about the power morcellator to patients. Before Reed’s death, healthcare professionals considered the risk of morcellation cancer too unlikely to warn about.

Overview of Morcellator Cancer Risk

Traditionally, doctors use the laparoscopic power morcellator to create tiny incisions for other instruments to enter, which would ideally allow them a less invasive way to perform procedures. About 50,000 women have hysterectomy procedures using the power morcellator each year. An estimated one in 350 women undergoing these surgeries is found to have uterine sarcoma, a type of uterine cancer. If the device strikes the affected area with sarcomas, the cancer can be caused spread through the body. There is currently no reliable method for predicting whether a woman has a uterine sarcoma. For this reason, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is discouraging doctors from using the power morcellator, especially for uterine fibroid procedures.

Hysterectomies are usually highly invasive, requiring long hospital recovery times and risky decisions involving the removal of the uterus. The morcellator was welcomed because it presented what appeared to be a less invasive procedure.

But the number of injury reports over the years has made many healthcare professionals question how the device should be used. Many morcellation cancer lawsuits have been filed against manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. The company has said it is committed to the safety of its patients, and is investigating possible design flaws.