FDA Announces Laparoscopic Power Morcellation Advisory Meeting

Washington, DCThe US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a meeting of a public advisory committee to review and discuss the safety of laparoscopic power morcellator devices as it pertains to their potential to disseminate and upstage a confined, but undetected (occult) uterine malignancy during laparoscopic hysterectomy or myomectomy.

FDA is convening this committee to seek expert scientific and clinical opinion on the risks and benefits of these types of devices when used for these procedures, based on available scientific data. The committee will make recommendations regarding the appropriate use, premarket testing, labeling, and other risk mitigations (including the use of containment bags) for these devices.

On April 17, the FDA issued a safety communication discouraging the use of laparoscopic power morcellation for the removal of the uterus (hysterectomy) or uterine fibroids (myomectomy) in women because, based on an analysis of currently available data, it poses a risk of spreading unsuspected cancerous tissue, notably uterine sarcomas, beyond the uterus.

Based on an analysis of currently available data, the FDA has determined that approximately 1 in 350 women who are undergoing hysterectomy or myomectomy for fibroids have an unsuspected type of uterine cancer called uterine sarcoma. If laparoscopic power morcellation is performed in these women, there is a risk that the procedure will spread the cancerous tissue within the abdomen and pelvis, significantly worsening the patient’s likelihood of long-term survival.

Laparoscopic power morcellation is one of several available treatments for fibroids. It is a procedure that uses a medical device to divide the uterine tissue into smaller pieces or fragments so it can be removed through a small incision in the abdomen, such as during laparoscopy.