According to researchers, ovarian cyst surgery is often unnecessary

New research suggests that many women undergo unnecessary and risky surgery to remove ovarian cysts.

Scientists have found that non-malignant cysts only very rarely become cancerous or have adverse effects such as ovarian rupture or torsion.

They recommended an alternative "watchful waiting" for surgery, which involves regular monitoring with ultrasound scans.

Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs that develop in the woman's ovary.

They are very common and usually do not cause any symptoms, but may in some cases trigger pelvic pain and bloating.

Some ovarian cysts turn out to be cancerous tumors and must be removed surgically.

But many women with benign cysts also need to undergo precautionary surgery, which always carries a risk of complications.

To address this problem, an international team of researchers followed the evolution of 1,919 women in whom a non-cancerous ovarian cyst was diagnosed for two years.

One-fifth of women in 10 different countries, including the United Kingdom, had cysts that disappeared naturally and 16% underwent surgery.

Overall, in 80% of cases, the cysts either resolved or required no intervention.

Only 12 women in the group were diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Paradigm shift

According to the study, published in The Lancet Oncology, the risk of getting cancer from non-malignant ovarian cysts was only 0.4%.

This could be due to an initial misdiagnosis rather than to benign cysts becoming cancerous, said the authors.

The probability of ovarian torsion was also 0.4% and cyst rupture 0.2%.

In this context, the risk of complications such as perforation of the intestine was 3 to 15% in operated women.

Lead researcher, Professor Tom Bourne, of Imperial College London, said: "Our findings could lead to a paradigm shift leading to a reduction in the number of surgeries for non-cancerous ovarian cysts – provided that sonographers trained workers reliably exclude cancer. "