A mother of six, Amy R., is questioning her decision to undergo power morcellation surgery after it resulted in latent leiomyosarcoma being upstaged and spread throughout her abdomen.

Cases like Amy’s are calling into question the safety of morcellation fibroid removal and morcellation hysterectomy safety.

Before her morcellation surgery, Amy was a vibrant, hard-working anethesiologist. She now battles Stage 4 cancer and after many rounds of chemotherapy, struggles to keep up the normal, everyday tasks of a mother.

Diagnosed with fibroids and struggling with the complications, like bleeding and pain, Amy consulted with a colleague, Dr. Michael Muto, who directs the gynecological oncology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s, Harvard’s teaching hospital.

He said it would be a “no-brainer” for Amy to opt for morcellation surgery to remove her fibroids.

She claims she asked for an open surgery, and knew of certain risks because of her own work as a doctor, however no surgeon would perform it for her. They all suggested laparoscopic morcellation surgery.

However, eight days after her surgery, her surgeon phoned her to tell her the pathology report came back as positive for sarcoma.

He said that leiomyosarcoma was so rare that the medical community doesn’t really know how to treat it. Some doctors don’t treat it at all, some opt for chemotherapy and some schedule additional surgeries.

Amy’s husband, also a doctor, became her advocate and did his own research on viable options for his wife. Together, they filed a petition on change.org to ban the practice of power morcellation surgery.

Even with its risks, most doctors still agreed that laparoscopic morcellation surgery is still a better option than open surgery. One of the issues is that morcellation surgery, with its shorter recovery time, saves a lot of money for hospitals and insurance companies.

But, because of the couple’s efforts, other women with upstaged morcellation-caused cancer have stepped forward. Morcellation hysterectomy safety has become a real concern across the country because of the stories of women like Amy and others.

Then, five months after her surgery and after calling for hospitals to ban the surgery, Brigham and Women’s finally banned morcellation surgery without the use of a bag. Soon after, the FDA came out with a new report stating that one in 350 women who seek the removal of fibroids has undetected cancer.

Amy chose to undergo a procedure called the Sugarbaker Procedure, named after its inventor. This is a brutal nine-hour surgery that removes all visible evidence of cancer, as well as the appendix, gallbladder, omentum (the fatty covering of the intestines) and peritoneum.

After this, surgeons pour heated chemotherapy into the abdominal cavity and let it sit for 90 minutes. This offers a 10 year, 80% chance of no recurrence.

Morcellation Hysterectomy Safety

Today, women have several choices when faced with a possible hysterectomy. An open hysterectomy is the traditional choice.

This surgery requires six weeks of recovery time, a large scar and has a higher rate of complications. Currently, about 40% of hysterectomies performed in the U.S. are open hysterectomies.

During a vaginal hysterectomy, the uterus is cut away and removed through the vaginal canal. The incisions are minimal and the recovery time is only two weeks.

However, some women may not have this option. If the uterus is enlarged or the fibroids are too big, this surgery cannot be performed. As a result, only 20% of hysterectomies performed in the U.S. are vaginal hysterectomy.

Morcellation hysterectomies account for one third of hysterectomies performed in the U.S. Until recently, this was seen as the best option for women. Recovery time for morcellation surgery is minimal.

However, with increasing risk of developing leiomyosarcoma as a result of this surgery, morcellation hysterectomy safety has been called into question.

Power morcellator tools are assumed to be a better option for women. However, due to the fact that the device can allegedly rupture the uterine wall, women with undetected uterine sarcoma are placed in direct risk of developing an aggressive form of cancer.

Because the tissue is disrupted with the power morcellator device, the cancer cells are spread into the patient’s body. Currently, there is no way to diagnose or treat uterine sarcoma before it is ruptured. However, once it is ruptured, it progresses quickly and often propels women into late stage cancer.

Estimates show that that one in 350 women who undergo a power morcellator surgery have undetected sarcoma. These women are at high risk of developing leiomysarcoma.

Amy and her husband are looking forward to the hearing that the FDA will hold regarding morcellation hysterectomy safety.