Power morcellation side effects have given the medical community great concern lately. In addition to power morcellation cancer, noncancerous tumors have been found in patients as well.

Power morcellation side effects have become so common and severe that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be adding a black box warning to the medical device. 

Power morcellators enter the body through a small opening in the abdomen. It is commonly used during laparoscopic surgery for hysterectomy or myomectomy to remove fibroids. This procedure was supposed to be less invasive, have a shorter recovery time, and be safer than a traditional hysterectomy/myomectomy surgery.

The power morcellator breaks the tissue it is removing into smaller pieces, making it easier to remove.

Power Morcellation Cancer

Many women have undiagnosed uterine malignancies that are spread as the tissue is broken up and removed by a power morcellator. It is estimated that one in 350 women have undiagnosed sarcoma.

As a result, many women have developed power morcellation cancer. On April 17, 2014, the FDA issued a warning stating that there was a high risk of women developing power morcellation side effects and encouraged doctors to not use the tool for some surgeries.

It has been suggested that the FDA’s warning was long overdue. Power morcellators for a hysterectomy 50,000 times each year. Many have the potential to develop cancer in the uterus, abdomen, and pelvis as a result of power morcellator use.

In November, the FDA strengthened their warning, claiming that power morcellators should not be used in most women, and that a black box warning concerning power morcellation cancer will be added.

Other Power Morcellation Side Effects

Three cases of noncancerous power morcellation side effects have greatly interested the medical community as well as power morcellation lawyers. Each woman reportedly experienced great pain and suffering as a result of undergoing power morcellation surgery. Each had to have surgery in order to remove the problems caused by the supposedly efficient tool.

One 38-year-old mother of four developed abdominal pain, constipation, and elevated cancer protein levels that turned out to be the result of several tumors that required the resection of parts of her spleen, colon, diaphragm, omentum, uterus, and left ovary.

A 51-year-old mother of two experienced abdominal pain, painful urination, and pelvic pressure. She found she had a 15 centimeter mass that required the resection of parts of the uterus, bladder, rectosigmoid colon, omentum, and remaining left ovary and fallopian  tube.

The third case was another 51-year-old mother of two who experienced nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. She had a bowel obstruction and a pelvic mass which required the removal of her right ovaries and fallopian tubes.

Though not cancerous, all three women experienced painful power morcellation side effects that required surgery to fix. These reports were published in January 2014 in the journal Obstetrics  & Gynecology.

Power morcellation lawsuits have been filed against various manufacturers. Models such as the Ethicon Gynecare Morcellex, Blue Endo MoreSolution Tissue Morcellator, and Karl Storz Rotocut G1 Morcellator have been used on thousands of women across the country potentially putting hundreds of women at risk for power morcellation side effects.