Many women who must undergo surgical procedures like hysterectomies or fibroid removals opt for a newer procedure using a medical device called a power morcellator.

However, researchers have found a strong connection between the use of power morcellators and uterine cancer.

What is a Power Morcellator?

A power morcellator is a medical tool used in less-invasive surgeries including laparoscopic hysterectomies and myomectomies (fibroid removal).

The power morcellator cuts up larger pieces of tissue into smaller ones. This tissue can then be vacuumed out of the body.

The power morcellator looks like a drill with a series of sharp blades on the end. This procedure allows physicians to make only small incisions to perform hysterectomies or myomectomies with minimal scarring and lessened recovery time.

Powered morcellator devices have this mechanism so infected tissue can be removed in a quick and less invasive way than traditional surgery.

These devices are advertised to be more efficient because the procedures do not require as much hospital recovery time.

However, there are side effects associated with power morcellation procedures.

Use of power morcellators and uterine cancer have now been linked. When the morcellator ruptures the uterine wall, or cuts up fibroids, patients are put at extreme risk of developing certain cancers that are aggressive in nature.

Power Morcellators and Uterine Cancer

Uterine sarcoma is virtually undetectable in its early stages. When the tissue is disrupted by the power morcellator, if the patient has undiagnosed uterine cancer, those cancer cells may then be released into the patient’s body.

These cancer cells can adhere to other organs, creating new cancer growth elsewhere. Even if a patient does not have cancerous cells, the tissue that is spread around from the procedure can result in adverse side effects such as pain, infection or bowel obstruction.

In 2014, the FDA released a safety alert warning about the connections between power morcellators and uterine cancer. It discourages the use of power morcellators for uterine or fibroid removal because of the risk of metastatic leiomyosarcoma, a type of uterine cancer.

Somr research suggests that one in 350 women who undergo a uterine fibroid surgery or hysterectomy using a power morcellator may have undiagnosed sarcoma and are at high risk of developing leiomysarcoma.

Uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women and about 95% of uterine cancers are cancers of the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium. The other 5% of uterine cancers occur in the muscular wall of the uterus and are labeled sarcomas.

Sarcomas have a much lower survival rate than endometrial cancers and are much more aggressive as well. In fact, the five year survival rate of those with uterine sarcomas is between 14% and 63%.

If a uterine sarcoma has spread to other parts of the body, it is called metastatic leiomyosarcoma. These patients only have a five year survival rate of between 4% and 16%.

Recent power morcellator lawsuits have addressed the following procedures:

• Myomectomy (removal of fibroids)
• Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus)
• Oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries)
• Salpingectomy (removal of fallopian tubes)

If you or someone you love suffered from cancer after a gynecological power morcellator procedure, you may have a legal claim.