Removal of one or both ovary is called oophorectomy. Surgical removal of both ovaries will place a woman into immediate menopause.

Prophylactic oophorectomy is the removal of the ovaries for the potential benefit of preventing mortality. The term prophylactic means that the ovaries are normal at the time of removal. Oophorectomy can be performed either alone as a planned surgical procedure or in conjunction with other planned surgical procedures, such as hysterectomy.

Of the 600,000 hysterectomies performed yearly in the U.S., approximately 300,000 are accompanied by prophylactic bilateral oophorectomy, traditionally suggested as the best strategy to decrease the rate of ovarian cancer. However, excluding women from high-risk families, ovarian cancer is a relatively uncommon malignancy. At age 50, only about one in 1,500 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and at age 70, the age of peak incidence, only 1 in 400 will be found to have ovarian cancer. In fact, while 16,000 women die of ovarian cancer every year, 70,000 die of lung cancer, 28,000 die of colon cancer and 40,000 die of breast cancer. Notably, 490,000 women die of heart disease every year and about 48,000 women die within one year following hip fracture.

Elective oophorectomy rates are estimated between 50% and 66% in women 40-64 years of age undergoing hysterectomy. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected between 1988 and 1993 concur that ovarian retention occurs in approximately 40-50% of patients undergoing hysterectomy at 40 years of age or older. It has been suggested that, in the United States, approximately 1,000 cases of ovarian cancer can be prevented if prophylactic oophorectomy is practiced in all women older than 40 years of age who undergo hysterectomy. This assumes an annual incidence of 24,000 new ovarian cancer cases and does not take into account the incidence of peritoneal carcinoma. The dilemma for the patient and the physician is whether the estimated number of cancer cases prevented (1,000) is worth the number of oophorectomies performed (approximately 300,000). The benefit of prophylactic oophorectomy may be offset by the consequence of estrogen loss early in life.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and naturopathic treatments are an option for some women after oophorectomy.

Pease see the OBGYN.net Menopause Section for more information and articles.

Please see, "Keeping Your Ovaries if You Are Having a Hysterectomy" by Dr. William H. Parker.

Please see, "Breast Cancer and Hormone Replacement Therapy" by Dr. Ronald Barentsen.

Please see, "Hysterectomy will ruin my sex life. Orgasm will never be the same!" by Dr. Paul D. Indman.