Two Boston hospitals have made changes to a controversial surgical procedure after questions arose about its safety. The technique, called morcellation, is characterized by a surgeon shredding tissue, usually fibroids or the uterus during a laparoscopic hysterectomy, that is then usually removed through a small incision in the abdomen. Both Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston are changing guidelines about when to use morcellation just months after learning of at least two medical cases where women had undetected cancer spread into their abdomen following the procedure.
