Whether these surgeries are done through a big incision on the abdomen or several smaller incisions through laparoscopy or through the vagina, they are not truly minimally invasive. They still breach the abdominal wall and instruments do come in contact with the internal organs. This in turn causes tissue reaction and scarring which carries future risk of bowel obstruction and need of further surgery. The use of general anesthesia: Requires placement of a tube down the throat to secure breathing. The surgery often takes hours to complete. Myomectomy: When you have fibroids, you most likely have many of them at a microscopic stage since you are prone to having fibroids. While these tiny fibroids may not be picked up on imaging studies, they may at some point in time grow to become symptomatic. Myomectomy is invasive, removes only one or few fibroids. We see many patients who have had many myomectomies only to see their symptoms come back. They are subsequently offered hysterectomy either partial or total. Hysterectomy: Is a MAJOR operation. Suffice it to say that the Lancet, a respected medical journal reported recently that 600,000 hysterectomies were performed last year in the US, most often for fibroids and a whopping 75% of these procedures were unnecessary. Some of the complications of hysterectomy: Post-operative infection and abscess formation, blood clots in legs and /or lungs, vaginal prolapse, bowel obstruction in later years, hot flushes, sexual problems, dry vagina, depression, osteoporosis or brittle bones, emotional distress Injury to adjacent structures: In case this happens, patients may face a long recovery and further surgeries may be needed to correct the problem such as fixing an injured bladder, urine conduit blocking the kidneys or bowel causing overwhelming infection (Sepsis). Long downtime: Recovery may take weeks to months assuming there are no complications. A long recovery time makes for a negative experience and quality of life. Long-Term complications: Open surgery inherently causes adhesions to form inside the abdomen / pelvis. This could make future interventions very difficult. Other effects reported are constipation and weight gain.