How is tubal ligation done and is it possible to get pregnant later

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The operation is not available to everyone.

What is tubal ligation

A fallopian tube ligation is a surgical procedure during which the gynecologist pinches or additionally cuts the fallopian tubes (oviducts) on the right and left sides. As a result, the egg cell loses its chances of getting into the uterus, and sperm cells will not be able to move through these channels.

Tubal ligation is sometimes called female sterilization and is used as a reliable method of contraception: the patient becomes sterile.

It also reduces the risk of ovarian cancer.

Who can have tubal ligation?

The law specifies strict conditions for the operation:

• Voluntary consent.
• Age over 35.
• Having two children if the woman is less than 35 years old.
• Court decision on the application of the guardian, if the patient is incapacitated.
• Medical indications. These include various serious diseases of the cardiovascular, endocrine, nervous, hematopoietic systems, respiratory organs, digestion or vision, mental disorders, cancer and some forms of tuberculosis. Their combination with pregnancy can greatly worsen a woman's condition.

Why is tubal ligation dangerous?

As with any surgery, complications can arise. Although rare, they are worth knowing about:

• Reaction to anesthesia. For example, an allergy or a side effect of anesthesia medication may occur.
• Accidental damage to the intestines, bladder or blood vessels during the work of the surgeon.
• Infection of a postoperative wound, its long healing, the occurrence of keloid scars.
• Pain in the abdomen or pelvis after recovery. It can occur due to adhesions or blood flow disturbance due to surgery.
• A tubal pregnancy is the most common type of ectopic pregnancy. It occurs when a fertilized egg is attached to the fallopian tube, where there are no conditions for the normal development of the fetus. This can rupture the organ and cause life-threatening bleeding.

How to prepare for tubal ligation

If a woman smokes, it is best to quit this habit at least 4-8 weeks before surgery to avoid increasing the risk of thrombosis and other complications.

The dressing should not be carried out during pregnancy, therefore, during the month before the procedure, only reliable methods of contraception should be used. For example, taking combined oral medications or protecting yourself with condoms. In any case, a pregnancy test must be taken before the operation.

At the preparation stage, you must tell the gynecologist what medications you are taking. Perhaps a specialist will advise Tubal ligation / U. S. National Library of Medicine to reduce the dose or stop using over-the-counter pain relievers and anticoagulants to avoid heavy bleeding during surgery.

You must not eat or drink 8 hours before the procedure. After all, anesthesia is usually used for pain relief, and it can cause vomiting. Since the person is unconscious at this time and does not control the process, the contents of the stomach enter the lungs. And this is fraught with aspiration bronchiolitis, which is difficult to treat.

How is tubal ligation done?

The operation is performed at any time of the cycle. The first days after childbirth are often chosen, when the uterus is enlarged and located closer to the navel, which becomes a reference point for the surgeon. As a result, it is easier for the doctor to reach the fallopian tubes. In other cases, access to the uterus and its appendages is more difficult because it is located behind the pubic bone.

Tubal ligation can be done in several ways:

• Cut the canals and cauterize their ends with an electric shock or sew up with surgical thread.
• Fold the fallopian tube in a loop and thread it into the silicone ring or secure with a clip.
• Place a spring clip across the fallopian tube.

In this case, one of the three main options for intervention is used.

Laparoscopy

The operation usually takes about 30 minutes. The woman is immersed in anesthesia or spinal anesthesia is given. Several small incisions are made in the abdomen, tubes with a surgical instrument and a video camera are inserted there. Gas can also be pumped into the abdomen to expand the organs and make it easier to find the uterus and appendages. The surgeon will then ligate the fallopian tubes using one of the above methods.

Mini-laparotomy

This operation is performed on women within 48 hours after giving birth.

Under local anesthesia or anesthesia, a 2–5 cm incision is made under the navel. Through it, the fallopian tubes are taken out in turn and tied or cut them, the ends are sewn up, sometimes clamps are applied. Then the organs are placed back into the abdominal cavity, the wound is closed, and the woman is transferred to the ward under the supervision of the medical staff.

Hysteroscopy

Usually, such an intervention is carried out under local anesthesia, and after 24 hours the patient can already return to her usual life.

This sterilization method does not require cutting the abdomen. A hysteroscope is inserted into the uterine cavity - a flexible tube with a video camera at the end and a surgical instrument. The device is pushed to the fallopian tubes and burned from the inside. After that, the device is removed and the operation is considered completed.

How is recovery after tubal ligation going?

Regardless of the method of surgery, the first day after it, the woman remains in the hospital under the supervision of a doctor.

Within 2-4 days, unpleasant symptoms, which are considered the norm, may bother you:

• Shoulder pain and bloating due to gas pumped into the abdomen.
• Sore throat.
• Discharge or bleeding from the vagina.
• Dizziness.
• Convulsions.

If these symptoms persist longer or the wound is inflamed and smells bad, blood and pus is leaking from it, the temperature rises above 38 ° C, abdominal pain intensifies, you should contact your gynecologist. Also, the help of a specialist is needed if nausea, shortness of breath or weakness are worried.

Doctors recommend not to lift anything heavier than 5 kilograms in the first few days. You can return to work related to manual labor no earlier than after 3 weeks.

Until the skin at the incision site has healed, do not take a bath or swim. It is necessary to carefully monitor the cleanliness of the wound and make dressings.

There are no dietary restrictions.

A woman can Tubal ligation - discharge / U. S. National Library of Medicine have sex again when she feels ready.

Is it possible to get pregnant after tubal ligation

Unplanned conception during the first year after surgery occurs in less than 1% of women. But sterilization does not protect against genital infections, so doctors recommend using condoms during sex.

Those who, after such an operation, still want to become pregnant, undergo IVF. To do this, eggs are taken from the ovaries, fertilized in laboratory conditions and placed directly into the uterus.

An operation to restore the patency of the fallopian tubes is also possible. However, it is effective in about half of the cases, and not everyone eventually succeeds in conceiving.