Hydrosalpinx Removal

Once hydrosalpinx [link to Female Structural Causes] has been diagnosed, the physician and patient discuss optimal treatment. In some cases, proceeding immediately to in vitro fertilization [link] (IVF) may be the most efficient route to pregnancy. For others, surgery to repair or remove the fallopian tube will render the best results.

Hydrosalpinx can be treated laparoscopically with a procedure known as neosalpingostomy. In neosalpingostomy, the surgeon makes an incision in the end of the hydrosalpinx and the edges of the incision are folded or flowered back, leaving an open tube. Unfortunately, the tube often closes back up, and the hydrosalpinx has a high recurrence rate.

The best results from neosalpingostomy are in cases of small hydrosalpinx in younger women with healthy ovaries.

Removal of the tube – a minor surgery called salpingectomy – is generally optimal for everyone else, even for patients who will bypass the fallopian tube altogether with IVF therapy. The reason for removal is to avoid re-infection of the hydrosalpinx, which would reduce the chances for successful pregnancy with or without treatment.

Salpingectomy should be performed by an experienced surgeon because preservation of the ovarian blood supply is crucial to later fertility.