Indication
Most bilateral oophorectomies (63%) are performed without any medical indication, most (87%) were performed together with a hysterectomy. Conversely, unilateral oophorectomy is commonly performed for a medical indication (73%; cyst, endometriosis, benign tumor, inflammation, etc.) and less commonly in conjunction with hysterectomy (61%).
Special indications include several groups of women with substantially increased risk of ovarian cancer, such as high risk BRCA mutation carriers and women with endometriosis who also suffer from frequent ovarian cysts.
Bilateral oophorectomy has been traditionally done in the belief that the benefit of preventing ovarian cancer would outweigh the risks associated with removal of ovaries. However, it is now clear that prophylactic oophorectomy without a reasonable medical indication decreases long term survival rates substantially and has deleterious long term effects on health and wellbeing.
Read more about this topic: Oophorectomy
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