Horizontal or Vertical Incision

I have a friend who is going in for a TAH on Monday
and she said she is having a horizontal insision, I had a
vertical. Is one better than the other and what is the
difference between the two?

Thank You Sisters
Lauri

They can do the horizontal if they think they don't need to go exploring like taking lymph nodes, etc. With me, the only option was a verticle since I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. They took everything (cervix, uterus, ovaries and tubes) and they needed to leave the option that they could extend the incision up past the belly button. That was incase they needed to take lymph nodes along the aortic chain.

Thankfully, they didn't have to do that, and I woke up with a neat incision about 6" long that ended just below my belly button. I *REALLY* wish it had been horizontal. I think I'd have less pulling on those darn staples.

My first doctor told me I was looking at a very long "hip to hip" horizontal incision if not a vertical one. The doctor who did my surgery said 4" horizontal....I ended up with maybe a 9" horizontal and have had absolutely no problems with it - no staples or external stitches; everything was inside the skin. Didn't need to go back to have anything removed and today (4 wks post op) you can barely see the incision - it's razor thin and just slightly red. (now the swelly belly above it is another story....).
Best wishes to your friend!

I have a 8 inch horizontal incision. I did not even have stitches on the outter layer. My Dr did what he called a cosmetic surgery type incision. He used a thing called Derma Bond. I did not have to worry about it being itchy, scratchy or the stitches "pulling".

Take Care
Danette

I aslo had the horizontal, i can imagine that the vertical cut my pull while trying to sit and stuff, but I had about a 8 inch form hip to hip that looks good now just red but like Trailblazer 39 stated....the swelly belly or banada as one sister called it...is a whole other story...take care sisters

Hi

I just had my surgery 2 weeks ago today, The Dr. told me he might do a vertical, because of my size, I weighed about 300lbs. Lost about 10 Lbs. so far, my incision is about 4-6 inches long. Dr. said I am doing good. I haven't had to much problem with the incision being vertical, hope this helps. Take it slow everything will be good, just relax!!! Good luck to you!!

Kimber