Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths that originate from the smooth muscle tissue in the wall of the uterus. According to the National Institutes of Health, most women will develop uterine fibroids at some point in their lives. While most uterine fibroids do not cause problems, they can cause symptoms, such as heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, pelvic pressure or pain, and frequent urination, sometimes requiring medical or surgical therapy.

Laparoscopic power morcellation is one of several available treatments for uterine fibroids. It is a procedure that uses an electronic medical device to divide the uterine tissue into smaller pieces or fragments so it can be removed through a small incision in the abdomen, such as during laparoscopy.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that approximately 1 in 350 women who are undergo a hysterectomy for uterine fibroids has an unsuspected type of uterine cancer called uterine sarcoma. If laparoscopic power morcellation is performed on these women, there is a risk that the procedure will spread the cancerous tissue within the abdomen and pelvis, significantly worsening the patient’s likelihood of long-term survival.

Power Morcellators Risks and Side Effects

The inherent risk of laproscopic power morcellation is the spreading of the broken-up tissue. Benign tissue can become implanted on abdominal structures and organs, resulting in conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis, potentially requiring further surgery. More significantly, morcellators can spread malignant tissue from an undiagnosed uterine cancer and significantly worsen a patient’s prognosis from treatable to deadly.

According to recent findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 1 out of every 368 women treated with a laparoscopic power morcellator had unsuspected uterine cancer identified during or after their procedures.

The study indicated that medical records showed that morcellation, or the fragmentation of the uterus into smaller pieces, was performed in 36,470 cases and 99 of the women subsequently had uterine cancer diagnoses. In addition, 26 other gynecologic malignancies were identified, along with 39 uterine lesions of uncertain malignant potential and 368 cases of endometrial hyperplasia.

The FDA issued a safety warning in April discouraging doctors from using laparoscopic power morcellators to remove uterine fibroids because of the risk of spreading undiagnosed cancer throughout the abdominal cavity. Shortly after, Johnson & Johnson suspended sales of its laparoscopic power morcellators sold by its Ethicon division.

According to the FDA, doctors use laparoscopic power morcellators in thousands of hysterectomies a year and there is a signification risk for cancer development because of undiagnosed cancer that may spread after surgery. In some cases, men can be affected. Their procedures usually involve the kidney or spleen, but the disease-spreading complication is the same. Morcellators can spread previously undetected cancers into the abdomen. The devices also spread benign tissues throughout the abdominal cavity, where they can grow on other organs, causing pain, bowel obstruction and infection.

A number of additional treatment options are available for women with uterine fibroids, including traditional surgical hysterectomy (performed either vaginally or abdominally) and myomectomy, and laparoscopic hysterectomy and myomectomy without morcellation, as well as other non-surgical options.

Morcellator Cancer Lawsuits

A growing number of morcellator cancer lawsuits stem from the use of laparoscopic power morcellators in hysterectomies and other gynecological surgeries. Some doctors are still performing hysterectomies and uterine fibroid removals via uterine morcellation, despite the FDA warning. According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, these gynecologists believe that the FDA is interfering with patient care, and that the agency is overstating the dangers associated with power morcellators.