How is the recovery following a laparoscopic hysterectomy different from a traditional hysterectomy by laparotomy?
Dr. Armas: Like day and night. What I usually tell patients who have had children is the difference is like recuperating from a vaginal delivery versus a cesarean section. We have patients [for whom] we do laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomies or we do laparoscopic hysterectomies and those patients leave for home later that day or the next day. They’re typically back to their normal activities within 72 hours or one week. Patients who have the standard laparotomy hysterectomy are typically in the hospital for 2-3 days and require 4-6 weeks of recuperation time. So the recuperation from laparoscopic hysterectomy is drastically shorter than the laparotomy. Uterus 1: How do you help patients manage the symptoms of menopause? Dr. Armas: I think the way we look at menopause has changed drastically from the way we looked at menopause five years ago. That is due to some of the issues that came out of the Women’s Health Initiative and the Million Women Study out of England. One of the thin
