vNOTES Hysterectomy and BSO

  • 21 replies
  • 64 subscribers
  • 1265 views

Hello

I am due to meet with my surgeon on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the vNOTES hysterectomy and BSO. Has anyone had this method of surgery for grade 1 stage 1a adenocarcinoma? I would like to know how it went and would you choose this method again and what were the downsides if any? Thank you

  • Hi Jane, I’d not heard of it before and had to Google it!  Looks interesting - perhaps only just slightly different from a laparoscopic procedure in that it’s the same op just done without tummy incisions? From the mention of the possibility of a “vaginal pack” post op, I wonder if there’s more chance of bleeding/discharge afterwards (I had none with the laparoscopic procedure), but then again with no tummy incisions it means no wounds to deal with. 

  • Yes I have seen that a vaginal pack is mentioned on a few sites, I am struggling to find any mention of it being performed for cancer, all the sites I have seen say benign surgery, that is why I wondered if anyone else has undergone it this way? I  think that not having external incisions sounds fantastic as there should be much less pain. 

  • I’d prefer to say less chance of pain or discomfort as (a) the incisions are small (an inch or less wide) (b) I had no pain from them. Just checking - are you in the UK?

  • Yes I am in Leeds UK 

  • Ok so here we go,  met my benign gynaecologist consultant this afternoon to discuss VNOTES hysterectomy and BSO or so I thought. Turns out she has referred me to a gynaecology oncologist as there are certain things that aren't straightforward about my case. I had discussed VNOTES with her registrar before I saw her,  I asked how many of these procedures she had carried out on endometrial cancer patients.. answered 1, I'm glad I've been transferred. My new consultant will be performing a Robotic laparoscopic hysterectomy and BSO he wants to meet me first to discuss everything,  so there will be a slight delay in my treatment. 

  • Wow Jane, that’s a bit of a turnaround! Sounds like a more reassuring outcome to me! “not straightforward about your case” sounds to me a bit like “I was wrong”

  • Most definitely I have said I felt like a guinea pig for that procedure and the answers to my questions of how many had she done and how many for cancer patients was quite shocking. 

  • Hi   I was curious when you first mentioned VNOTES and started looking it up.  Most of the information about it seemed to be on USA sites and there was almost no mention of its use here.  My first thought then was to wonder if you should be asking what training your surgeon had had and how many such operations  your surgeon had done.   In fact I was already planning to say this in a  post when I read your  latest news. Indeed  I wonder if you would have been told more about this new technique.. I hope your meeting with the new consultant goes well and there isn't too much delay..

    XXXX

    Anne

    (Class of 2015!)

  • I bet you're glad you've been transferred! Rather a slight delay in your treatment than a person with little experience doing something nothing we've heard of here! I thought I was going to have a Da Vinci robotic hysterectomy but just had laparoscopic in the end.

    I'm attaching a link to the cancer research site here Types of surgery for womb cancer | Cancer Research UK so there's a bit of detail about robotic surgery.

    Sending hugs, Barb xx


    Community Champion Badge

    Womb cancer forum

    Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

    "Never lose hope. Storms make people stronger and never last forever” - Roy T Bennett

  • In robotic surgery it is still the surgeon in charge but he has the advantage of the remote use of instruments that are capable of far more delicate movements and can manouevre in spaces that otherwise would be inaccessible.  So recovery may be faster partly because internal organs don't have to be moved around so much !  

    XXXX

    Anne

    (Class of 2015!)