Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have changed their protocols on morcellation procedures following two cases where the procedure appeared to cause cancer to spread into the patients' abdomens, according to an ABC News report.
Morcellation is a procedure in which the physician removes large masses of tissue during minimally invasive surgeries. There is a risk that the removal of the tissue can spread cancerous cells throughout the abdomen. A study in the Public Library of Science found the rate of unexpected sarcoma following a morcellation procedure is 0.09 percent.
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Brigham and Women's Hospital experienced two cases of cancer spreading into the abdomen following a morcellation procedure, spurring the hospital's change in protocol, according to the report.
Both Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital said they will only allow morcellation when there is very little risk of a cancer occurrence, according to the report.
Brigham and Women's Hospital will now only conduct a morcellation once the tissue to be removed is encased in a bag. The bag has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this purpose, but it has been used in other tissue removal procedures, according to the report.
Massachusetts General Hospital will only allow morcellation without a containment system in very rare cases.
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