SURGERY/ANESTHESIA/RECOVERY

The Center for Tubal Reversal performs all tubal reversal procedures in an accredited (JCAHO = Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations) state-of-the-art outpatient surgical facility.

Because of the microsurgical nature of a tubal reversal and the need to prevent patient movement, the procedure requires general anesthesia. The Center for Tubal Reversal employs only Board Certified anesthesiologists with extensive experience in administering general anesthesia to ensure patient safety. Furthermore, our anesthesiologists will ensure that your postoperative course in the recovery is free of pain and nausea.

Your surgery will last between one to two hours. Prior abdominal surgery and/or pelvic scarring (adhesions), and an obese body type, may prolong the tubal reversal, however, the great majority of procedure are completed in under two hours. Keeping surgery time short is important as means of minimizing the risk for infectious morbidity and anesthesia related complications, and shortening the recovery period. The physicians at the Center for Tubal Reversal are vastly experienced micro surgeons having performed thousands of tubal reversals each, with operative skills and techniques aimed at optimizing success rates and minimizing operative time.

The Center for Tubal Reversal specializes in performing tubal reversals via a minilaparotomy. Despite requiring an abdominal incision in order to access the pelvic organs, the incision in a minilaparotomy is quite small, approximately 5-6 cm (2-2.5 inches), which means that recovery is fast, allowing the procedure to be performed on an outpatient basis. This means that patients go home several hours after the procedure on the day of surgery. The average time spent in the recovery room prior to discharge home is three hours. Our dedicated team of anesthesiologists and nurses make sure patients are in a comfortable and stable condition before being discharged.

The abdominal incision is closed with a special technique called a subcuticular closure. In this method a fine hidden stitch is placed under the skin, holding the incision together. The stitch dissolves within several weeks of placement and does not require any removal. Unlike other abdominal closures, this type of closure produces optimal cosmetic results with often minimal abdominal scarring.

Patients are discharged home with pain medications, but should expect some degree of discomfort along the abdominal incision for approximately one week following surgery. However, the majority of patients can resume routine daily activities/work within 72 hours of surgery. The Center for Tubal Reversal offers a postoperative evaluation within one week of surgery to examine the abdominal incision and to ensure that patients are recovering as expected (included in the tubal reversal fees).