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Bleeding After a Hysterectomy

Susan Maayah

Susan Maayah, M.D.

Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Mills-Peninsula Physician HMO Network

Question:

I had a hysterectomy in June. I still have my tubes and ovaries and a small bit of cervix. Why and how am I still having full periods every month? Where is this blood coming from?

Answer:

The type of surgery you had is a supracervical hysterectomy. If your ovaries are still functioning, then you are still having monthly ovulatory cycles. The monthly cycle causes bleeding from the endometrial tissue that remains in your cervix. It is a common phenomenon in women with supracervical hysterectomy who still have their ovaries.

Typically when I leave a patient's cervix and ovaries after a hysterectomy, I will cauterize the inside of the cervix to help reduce chances that there will be any remaining endometrial cells that may bleed every month. Despite this, occasionally my patients still have monthly spotting.

It is not concerning or abnormal, and when you go through menopause (when your ovarian function ceases), this monthly bleeding will stop.

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