Cervix - leave or remove

Hi, was told just the other day that an hysterectomy would be my best option for fibroids. I was a bit shocked as at the previous appt he said that would be the last option. Since having a scan and finding several fibroids he said given my age, hyst was the way to go.

As he was telling me about it he said along the lines of "we can take the cervix out too which would mean no more pap smears" or words to that effect. I will follow through with this at our next apt at the end of the month but my question is....

What is the advantage of leaving or removing the cervix?

Thanks.

Hi Mrs. Wombat. I posted the exact same question here a month or so ago. My doctor had also recommended a TLH for me as well. I was surprised to receive many replies from ladies who had had the cervix removed and did not miss it at all. At this point, there does not seem to be conclusive evidence that retaining the cervix improves long term sexual function or prevents future organ prolapse as thought at first. However, retaining the cervix does make immediate recovery a bit faster. For example my doc okays return to sex at 4 weeks for LASH rather than 12 for TLH. The risks of keeping the cervix are possible future mini periods, the risk(though small) of cervical cancer, and the rare possibility that an undetected cancer can be spread when the uterus is broken up for removal through laproscopic incisions. For me, I feel like it is psychological important for me to keep as much normal anatomy as possible, so I am willing to take these small risks. I discussed this with my surgeon at my pre-op and she agreed to do the supracervical hysterectomy instead. I think the decision comes down to what you and your surgeon feel most comfortable with, but I would definitely encourage you to have this discussion with your doctor. Whichever way you decide, I wish you the best!

I had my surgery two weeks ago. My cervix was removed because my doctor said it would cause problems in the future and would be best to remove it or I could wait and have another surgery. So I decided to go ahead and remove it. I was told if your cervix is left that you would have mini periods. If your cervix will cause you problems and possible land you in another surgery then go ahead and have it removed. It will be a longer recovery if you have your cervix removed. My recovery is 8 weeks.

I had a TVH May21st. I told my Dr. to just take everything including the cervix. I was cleared for sex at 6wks and felt no big difference really.