What Doctors Don't Tell YouWomen who have hysterectomies are 40 per cent more likely to experience urinary incontinence than those who have not had the operation.
A review of the literature by researchers in California found that the women less than age 60 at the time of the operation had no increased likelihood of becoming incontinent whereas women over 60 were up to 60 per cent more likely to do so. Also, the symptoms don’t appear until some five to ten years after the surgery.
The researchers concluded that women are often not adequately counselled to allow them to weigh up the short term benefits versus the long term risks of hysterectomy (Lancet, 2000; 356: 535-9).
Maryon Stewart
Tom Ferguson MD
Daniel Redwood DC