LSH is a new technology used for hysterectomies that provides less pain, less bleeding and faster recovery without removing the cervix.
Through tiny incisions in the abdomen, Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy (LSH) allows physicians to use laparoscopy and a new surgical instrument called a tissue morcellator to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries, while leaving the cervix intact.
Laparoscopes, which have a fiber optic light and magnifying video camera to see inside the abdomen and guide the surgeon, have been used with vaginal hysterectomies for 10 years. With LSH, the uterus and any large, calcified fibroids can be removed through small incisions or punctures the size of a ballpoint pen tip in the abdomen.
The new procedure dramatically reduces pain and trauma to the body. With LSH, there is less cutting and less moving of organs and tissue. The more cutting and tissue manipulation you do, the more discomfort there is afterward.
With an abdominal hysterectomy, patients spend three to four days in the hospital. Most go back to work in six to eight weeks. When an LSH is performed, the patient can go home that evening or the next morning, resume sexual activity usually in one week, drive again in a week, and go back to work generally in about two weeks.
In addition to less pain and quick recovery, the new procedure leaves the cervix intact, which is important to prevent vaginal prolapse and stress incontinence.