By: Diana Barnes-Brown for Fibroids1For women who suffer from ovarian cysts, the threat of losing ovary function is a big worry when deciding on a treatment. Women want relief from symptoms, but often feel apprehensive about surgical treatments, fearing permanent damage to their egg reserve or the loss of fertility.
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Symptoms of ovarian cysts include:
Pain, pressure, or a sensation of being full or bloated in the abdomen
Dull aching in the lower back and thighs
Difficulty passing urine completely
Painful sexual intercourse
Weight gain
Particularly painful menstrual periods
Abnormal vaginal bleeding (either in unexpected amounts during periods, or bleeding that does not coincide with periods at all)
Nausea or vomiting
Breast tenderness and sensitivity
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Ovarian cysts are growths in the ovaries. They may go unnoticed for years, but some can cause serious pain, off-cycle bleeding, and bloating in the abdominal region, as well as back and leg pain. Some women who have symptomatic ovarian cysts find day-to-day activities to be difficult or impossible, and may have to cut back on work, family, and leisure activities they used to enjoy until they find a treatment that works. Fortunately, for women whose ovarian cysts require surgery, there is now a minimally-invasive technique that allows doctors to remove the cyst with minimal disruption to the ovaries themselves. The technique is called keyhole surgery, and uses a laparoscope (a small, telescope-like tool for viewing structures inside the body) to guide tiny cutting instruments to the location of cysts and allow for removal without open surgery.
In a study reported in the December 2005 issue of The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Guido Ragni and fellow researchers from the University Delgy Studi di Milano looked at outcomes for 38 women who had undergone laparoscopic surgery for the removal of endometriomas (one of four main types of ovarian cysts), and had subsequently used assisted fertility techniques such as in vitro fertilization to get pregnant.
They found that the surgery did reduce the number of egg follicles by about 60 percent, the number of eggs by 53 percent, and the number of embryos by 55 percent, but that fertilization rates of “high-quality embryos” were almost as high as those of women who had no surgery.
This means that “the fertilization rate [of the high-grade embryos is] not influenced by excision of previous endometriomas,” concluded Dr. Ragni and his colleagues.
Previously there was some debate over the level and type of risks that laparoscopic ovarian surgery can present to hopeful parents. This research may provide a good first step for women and families who want more concrete information about fertility risks before making the decision to pursue surgical options.
Keyhole surgery is just one of a slew of new minimally-invasive techniques whose popularity has grown rapidly due to improved medical technology and the fact that many of the procedures are outpatient procedures requiring only a few days of rest before a return to normal activity.
Ovarian Cysts: Quick Tips and Facts
Keyhole surgery is a highly successful method for curing some women’s ovarian cysts, but it may not be the preference of every women. If you want to learn more about other treatment techniques, talk to your doctor or healthcare specialist about the following treatment techniques.
The “watch and wait” approach: Usually conservative rather than aggressive treatments are best at first, so when an ovarian cyst is diagnosed the first step is to have the patient check back in a few months to see if the cyst has changed or shrunk. If the cyst has shrunken or gone away on its own, no further treatment could be needed.
Birth control pills: These are used for people who suffer from polycystic ovaries, which turn egg follicles into cysts at ovulation; the birth control pills stop ovulation and thus stop the forming of the cysts
Surgical options: The most popular new technique is keyhole surgery, but a slightly more invasive technique called laparotomy may be better for larger cysts, and allows surgeons to biopsy the cysts and test them for cancer.
