8.5 pound uterine tumor removal/total hysterectomy

Gosh. That is a huge fibroid. I hope your biopsies were negative for malignancy. I would definitely expect to be told if metal clips were left in my abdomen. And yes they could cause pain in my opinion. Even adhesions cause pain and clips would be even more irritating. I would talk to my surgical office if this happened to me.

My surgical clips have always been mentioned in any pelvic CT scans I have had over the years. For example, one report states, "Multiple surgical clips are seen in the iliac region and in the retroperitoneum consistent with previous lymph node dissection surgery." That CT report was from 2001, which was two years after my 1999 radical hysterectomy, including pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy.

It's my understanding that the use of surgical clips is fairly common.

MoeKay

Hi Denise,

You ask an interesting question. I can't speak to what currently needs to be disclosed to the patient prior to surgery to satisfy the requirements of informed consent. My surgery was over 23 years ago and I don't specifically recall my gynecologic oncologist discussing anything about surgical clips with me before surgery. However, I couldn't swear to that fact given how much time has passed and how stressed I was between diagnosis and surgery. I do recall the office staff having me sign a consent form before surgery and I do specifically recall that they added language to the form about my possible need for a radical hysterectomy, given the location of my tumor and other concerns my gyn-onc had. Whether that form may have mentioned surgical clips or not, I can't say, and if I still have a copy of that form, it's filed away in a box somewhere and not with all my test results.

I did check my Operative Report and see that it says, "hemostasis was achieved by Ligaclips and Bovie cautery." So I Googled "Ligaclips" and I found some references to the fact that they were made of titanium. Also, for anyone like me who has had a breast biopsy, they likely have a surgical clip in their breast at the site of the biopsy. Since my breast biopsy was also done more than 20 years ago, I can't remember if I was told ahead of time or not that a surgical clip would be inserted, but I may have been. It shows up on all my mammograms and I understand that those clips are used in case the biopsy tissue is found to be cancerous and additional surgery is needed.

None of those old metal clips ever caused me any problems at the airport. My titanium hip replacement done in 2011 is another story and has caused issues at airports. Although the surgeon's office gave me a card to show when I go to the airport, TSA doesn't take the card at face value and I've gotten additional screenings before they let me on the plane. For that, and the safety of the flying public, I'm thankful!