Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Oophorectomy (oh-oaf-uh-REK-tuh-me) is a surgical procedure to remove one or both of your ovaries. Your ovaries are almond-shaped organs that sit on each side of the uterus in your pelvis. Your ovaries contain eggs and produce hormones that control your menstrual cycle.
Oophorectomy can be done alone, but it is often done as part of a larger surgery to remove the uterus (hysterectomy) in women who have undergone menopause. Oophorectomy is also commonly combined with surgery to remove the nearby fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), since they share a common blood supply with the ovaries. When combined, the procedure is called salpingo-oophorectomy.
When oophorectomy involves removing both ovaries, it's called bilateral oophorectomy. When the surgery involves removing only one ovary, it's called unilateral oophorectomy.
- Schorge JO, et al. Surgeries for Benign Gynecologic Conditions. In: Schorge JO, et al. Williams Gynecology. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=514. Accessed Feb. 25, 2011.
- Mikio N, et al. Perioperative consideration in gynecologic surgery. In: DeCherney AH, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment Obstetrics & Gynecology. 10th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2007. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2390832. Accessed Feb. 25, 2011.
- Valea FA, et al. Oophorectomy and ovarian cystectomy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 28, 2011.
- Parker WH, et al. Effect of bilateral oophorectomy on women's long-term health. Women's Health. 2009;5:565.
- Laparoscopy and ovarian cancer: A paradigm change in the management of ovarian cancer? Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology. 2009;16:250.
- Medeiros LRF, et al. Laparoscopy versus laparotomy for benign ovarian tumour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2010;CD004751.
- Mettler L, et al. Robotic assistance in gynecological oncology. Current Opinion in Oncology. 2008;20:581.
Find Mayo Clinic on