Hysterectomy: treatment for secondary infertility

Infertility is a distressing condition but extenuating circumstances sometimes make the choice of treatment seem paradoxical. Here is discussed a challenging case of a 30-year-old woman with no living child and secondary infertility who presented with a large abdominal mass and severe abdominal pain, sequelae of previous obstructed labour. There was complex management dilemma. She was young, had no living child, had undergone vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) repair and vaginoplasty yet was wanting fertility; however she was distressed with the abdominal pain and desired a complete cure. Both she and her spouse were counselled about the high possibility of failure if repeat attempt at vaginoplasty was made, and possible damage to the VVF repair. Finally, decision of exploratory laparotomy with total abdominal hysterectomy was taken after counselling the couple about adoption as an option for childbearing.