Why is morcellation controversial?

Morcellation is controversial because if there is an undiagnosed cancer in the body, the malignant cells could spread due to the procedure. OB/GYN specialist Lauren Streicher, MD, discusses this issue and what doctors are doing to address it.

Transcript

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LAUREN STREICHER: Morcellation has recently become controversial because there's a concern that in the process of morcellation, if there's a cancer which

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has otherwise not been diagnosed prior to surgery, that cells from the cancer might spread

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to other parts in the body. [LIGHT MUSIC]

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Now, of course, every doctor is concerned about the possibility of causing a complication. So this is something that we want

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to be able to predict as much as possible and, most important, prevent as much as possible. And like most techniques in surgery,

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as we learn new information, we make changes so that that isn't an issue.

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One of the things most expert laparoscopic surgeons are doing is using a bag to morcellate. So that means that in the event that there

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is some contamination from the tissue that it stays inside the bag, which is then removed from the body.

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The other thing that's so important is, as best as we can, to try and predict who's at risk for cancer.

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So a careful pre-op evaluation is very important. Having said that, there is no way

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to identify every single woman that has a leiomyosarcoma. But fortunately, it's a very, very rare occurrence.