Salpingectomy (fallopian tube)

abstract

Abstract

Salpingectomy is the surgical excision of the fallopian tube. Traditionally the tubes were preserved when undertaking a hysterectomy for benign reasons when the intention is to conserve the ovaries. Recent evidence from morphological, embryological, molecular biology and histopathology points towards the fallopian tube; and in particular the fimbrial end, being the origin for high-grade serous ovarian cancer. It is advocated that bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy should be the method of choice for risk-reducing surgery in patients with high risk of ovarian cancer, namely those with BRCA1, BRCA2 and mismatch-repair gene mutations. Increasingly, removal of the fallopian tubes as part of hysterectomy for benign disease, with preservation of the ovaries, or as a method for sterilisation in selected groups, has been shown to reduce the risk of future development of ovarian cancer with minimal adverse effects on the patient, a process that should be encouraged.