Fertility clinic promotes success of tubal ligation reversal

surgery

Angelique Flores

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Breakthroughs in fertilization treatment are giving

more options to local women trying to bear children.

Doctors at the Reproductive Partners Medical Group in Fountain Valley are

trained in laparoscopy, a surgery that ties back Fallopian tubes that

were previously cut in tubal ligation surgery.

Although reversal of tubal ligation is not new, the procedure to do it

is. Laparoscopy is achieving greater success with an increase of

pregnancies for women who have undergone the surgery.

Of 186 women who had the laparoscopic reversal surgery in Seoul, Korea,

150 were able to get pregnant -- an 81% success rate.

“The success of laparoscopy depends on a woman’s age,” said Dr. Lang Wong

of Reproductive Partners. “Of women who are young, 85% will get

pregnant.”

Age made a small difference in the studies done in Korea. Of the 17 women

over 40, 11 were able to conceive, making a 65% success rate.The previous

method to reverse tubal ligation, called laparotomy, is a major surgery

similar to a caesarean section. A large incision is made across a woman’s

abdomen. The woman usually is required to be hospitalized for up to three

days, with a four- to six-week recovery period.

Women who undergo a laparoscopy have the same chance at pregnancy as

those who have a laparotomy, but with less recovery time. With

laparoscopy, three or four small incisions, less than an inch wide, are

made in a woman’s abdomen. Women can leave the hospital the same day and

have a three- to five-day recovery time.

“You need a scope to see and long instruments because you don’t have your

hands on things,” Wong said.

This scope allows the surgeons to see inside without having to make the

large incisions.

The procedure requires intensive training and an expert surgical skills

to perform. It is not generally available at all fertility clinics. Costs

can vary from $7,000 to $10,000, depending on the hospital.

There is a risk, however -- a 10% increase in the chances of having a

tubal pregnancy. And the procedure may not help women who had fertility

problems before the procedure.

“Not everyone is candidate of laparoscopy,” Wong said.

Women who are heavyset are recommended to have the laparotomy procedure

instead, said Dr. Denise Cassadenti, another doctor from the medical

clinic.

Success also depends on whether the Fallopian tubes were cut far away

enough from the uterus. If not, the chances of success are greater with a

laparotomy, doctors say.

Doctors at the Reproductive Medical Group advise women to look at all the

options available before choosing one.