Ovary Removal (Laparoscopic Oopherectomy)
Ovary Removal (Laparoscopic Oophorectomy)
Ovary Removal (Laparoscopic Oophorectomy) (oh-of-uh-REK-tuh-me) is a surgical procedure to remove one or both of your ovaries. Your ovaries are almond-shaped organs that sit on each side of the uterus in your pelvis. Your ovaries contain eggs and produce hormones that control your menstrual cycle.
Before your Procedure
Your doctor may do the following:
- Physical exam
- Blood and urine tests
- Ultrasound—a test that uses sound waves to examine the inside of the body
- CT—a type of X-ray that uses a computer to make pictures of structures inside the body
Leading up to your procedure:
- Talk to your doctor about your medications. You may be asked to stop taking some medications up to one week before the procedure.
- Eat a light dinner the night before the procedure. After midnight, do not eat or drink anything, including water.
- Arrange for a ride home and for help at home.
FAQS
Frequently asked questions about surgical procedures
Can I use my insurance and get these prices?
Payment is due 14 calendar days prior to your surgery date. If, after the cutoff, your account is not settled, your case must be postponed.
How quickly can I have surgery?
How will I meet my surgeon?
If I had a car or work accident, would you work with my employer or attorney for payment?
What if I get sick right before my surgery?
You could develop a respiratory infection, a urinary tract infection, COVID, or some other condition that may necessitate postponement. There is no penalty when this happens.
What’s Included:
- Facility fee
- Graft and hardware costs (if needed)
- Surgeon and assistant surgeon fees
- Anesthesiologist
- Time in the recovery unit (at no additional charge)
- Initial consultation visit
- One post-operative visit
*Please note: If you choose not to proceed with surgery after the initial consultation, or if you delay your procedure for more than 6 weeks, you will need to update your consultation at a cost of $375.
What’s not included:
- Lab testing before and after the surgery, as needed
- Electrocardiogram (EKG), depending on age. If you had one elsewhere in the past 6 months and it read “normal”, we can forego this expense.
- Imaging costs. X-rays and MRIs can be obtained anywhere.
- Physical therapy services
- Medications you’ll need (oral or IV antibiotic infusions if an infection arises)
- Wound care
- Bracing supplies
- Additional doctor visits (a pre-operative visit with the surgeon, in person, and any required post-op follow-ups after the suture removal to monitor your progress
- Additional surgical intervention if a complication arises
- Additional imaging or hospital care if a blood clot develops
Ovary Removal (Laparoscopic Oophorectomy) Procedure
Laparoscopic surgery involves making three or four small incisions in your abdomen.
The surgeon inserts a tube with a tiny camera through one incision and special surgical tools through the others. The camera transmits video to a monitor in the operating room that the surgeon uses to guide the surgical tools. Each ovary is separated from the blood supply and surrounding tissue and placed in a pouch. The pouch is pulled out of your abdomen through one of the small incisions.
Laparoscopic oophorectomy may also be robotically assisted in certain cases. During robotic surgery, the surgeon watches a 3-D monitor and uses hand controls that allow finer movement of the surgical tools.
Whether your oophorectomy is an open, laparoscopic, or robotic procedure depends on your situation. Laparoscopic or robotic oophorectomy usually offers quicker recovery and shorter hospital stay. But these procedures aren’t appropriate for everyone, and in some cases, surgery that begins as a laparoscopy may need to be converted to an open procedure during the operation.
What to expect after your surgery
After your Ovary Removal (Laparoscopic Oophorectomy)
After oophorectomy, you can expect to:
- Spend time in a recovery room as your anesthesia wears off
- Move to a hospital room where you may spend 23 hours, depending on your procedure
- Get up and about as soon as you’re able in order to help your recovery
- How quickly you can go back to your normal activities after oophorectomy depends on your situation, including the reason for your surgery and how it was performed.
- Almost all women are able to return to full activity by six weeks after surgery. Women who undergo laparoscopic or robotic surgery may return to full activity sooner, as early as two weeks after surgery.
Risks
Oophorectomy is a relatively safe procedure that carries a small risk of complications, including:
- Bleeding
- Infection
- Damage to nearby organs
- Rupture of a tumor, spreading potentially cancerous cells
- Retention of ovary cells that continue to cause signs and symptoms, such as pelvic pain, in premenopausal women (ovarian remnant syndrome)
- Small bowel obstruction
Can I Travel to St George for Surgery?
Yes, and we’ll help you make all your arrangements.
- We have arrangements to try to obtain free flights through a non-profit volunteer pilot organization. We can do this with 10 days’ advance notice in most cases.
- We have discount codes for the Holiday Inn in town. This hotel is 1.5 miles from the surgery center and 2 miles from our clinic.
- We’ll arrange to send your after-surgery medications to your hometown pharmacy for pickup before you leave.
What if I would rather drive to St George?
No problem, we can help with those plans as well. When you have surgery with us, we’ll need to make sure you’re safe and comfortable after surgery. We’ll arrange cold compression therapy that requires an AC/DC adaptor/transformer and frequent stops to stretch and refill the ice reservoir on the road.
We’ll ask about the vehicle you’ll travel in to ensure you have a way to elevate and stretch out in the vehicle on the road while someone else does the driving.
How are follow-up and initial consultations handled?
In-person and telehealth consultations are possible with the surgeon to whom your case is assigned. The initial visit is included in the surgical package and is valued at $375.
We can also obtain the flights from the volunteer pilot nonprofit if you’d like to come for initial and follow-up visits in person. One follow-up visit is included in the surgical package at a value of $175. Any additional visits are charged at the time of service to your credit or debit card.
Transparent Pricing Guide
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