TOTAL AND SUBTOTAL HYSTERECTOMY - PSYCHOS EXUAL ASPECTS

Surgery on genital organs is taken with anxiousness and leads generall y to a temporary impairment of sexual function. Sexual life after hyst erectomy is possible. Intercourse, sexual desire and orgasmic capacity are as a rule not negatively changed and in a great part even improve d. Through discussions (during pre-operative consultancy and at the ti me of discharge and follow-up examinations) that also deals with the s exual function, lasting or chronic sexual disturbances can be largely avoided. The incidence of psychosomatic disturbances which also influe nce sexual behavior is then under 10%; they are projected onto the ope ration and have intra-psychic or psyche-social roots that are independ ent of it. A certain method of hysterectomy cannot have any decisive s ignificance with regard to the capacity to experience sexual pleasure. An all-too-local/genital approach deflects us from our understanding of the orgasm, as the latter is a central experience in which extra-ge nital and, above all, psychological factors also play an important par t.