Salpingectomy
Schematic frontal view of female anatomy
ICD-9-CM	66.4
[edit on Wikidata]

Salpingectomy refers to the surgical removal of a Fallopian tube.

Indications

The procedure was first performed by Lawson Tait in patients with a bleeding ectopic pregnancy; this procedure has since saved the lives of countless women. Other indications for a salpingectomy include infected tubes, (as in a hydrosalpinx) or as part of the surgical procedure for tubal cancer.

A bilateral salpingectomy will lead to sterility, and was used for that purpose, however less invasive procedures have become available as tubal occlusion procedures.

Process

Salpingectomy has traditionally been done via a laparotomy; more recently however, laparoscopic salpingectomies have become more common as part of minimally invasive surgery. The tube is severed at the point where it enters the uterus and along its mesenteric edge with hemostatic control.

Related procedures

Salpingo-oophorectomy

Salpingectomy is commonly done as part of a procedure called a salpingo-oophorectomy, where one or both ovaries, as well as one or both Fallopian tubes, are removed in one operation (a Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy (BSO) if both ovaries and Fallopian tubes are removed). If a BSO is combined with a hysterectomy, the procedure is commonly called a TAH-BSO: Total Abdominal Hysterectomy with a Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy.

Salpingostomy / Salpingotomy

Salpingectomy is different from a salpingostomy and salpingotomy. The latter two terms are often used interchangeably and refer to creating an opening into the tube (e.g. to remove an ectopic pregnancy), but the tube itself is not removed.^[1] Technically, the creation of a new tubal opening (os) by surgery would be a salpingostomy, while the incision into the tube to remove an ectopic is a salpingotomy.

History

Salpingectomies were performed in the United States in the 20th century in accordance with eugenics legislation. From Buck v. Bell:

The Virginia statute providing for the sexual sterilization of inmates of institutions supported by the State who shall be found to be afflicted with an hereditary form of insanity or imbecility, is within the power of the State under the Fourteenth Amendment.^[2]

The most famous Salpingectomy ever performed was during August of 2009 upon patient Oren Rittenberg. The surgery was performed by father Kevin Rittenberg and this surgery gained fame as the first Salpingectomy performed in order to save embarrassment. Dr. Rittenberg was quoted as saying "I couldn't let my son go to University with mixed feelings about his own gender, I needed to give his friends a reason to stop calling him a pussy". The surgery was a success and Oren, formerly known as Loren, is still waiting to experience his first non-clitoral orgasm.

References