Ask Us Anything: Am I a Candidate for Tubal Reversal?

"I had a tubal ligation some years ago to just one tube; the other was removed due to an ectopic pregnancy, so I tied the remaining tube to avoid that same complication from happening again. I am 34 and have been thinking about wanting to reverse the tubal ligation for about a year now. Do you have any advice or suggestions regarding my situation?"

Dr. Ali Ghomi Responds:

Thank you for your inquiry.

It is reasonable to assume that the ligated tube is amenable to the tubal reversal procedure. The opposite tube most likely has been mostly removed at the time of your tubal pregnancy and therefore would not be amenable to reversal procedure.

In my opinion, you may be still a candidate for tubal reversal performed on one tubal only. Your chances of success depends on the type of tubal ligation that you had done, i.e. burning versus Falope-Rings versus clips.

If you had your tube tied at the time of a cesarean section or shortly after a vaginal delivery, the chances of success of tubal reversal would be somewhat reduced since a large portion of the tube is removed at the time of cesarean section or shortly after vaginal delivery.

Theoretically, a successfully performed tubal reversal on one tube should provide you with the same success as having had successful tubal reversal performed on two fallopian tubes.

You might also want to consider minimally invasive approaches to tubal reversal such as laparoscopic or robotic approaches, as opposed to traditional open surgery.

— Dr. Ali Ghomi

Dr. Ghomi is the Director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and Chair of The Robotic Surgical Committee at Sisters of Charity Hospital. He is the only physician in Western New York who performs Sacrocolpopexy Prolapse surgery using the da Vinci® robot. Sacrocolpopexy is a proven “gold standard” procedure worldwide to repair severe pelvic prolapse. Click here to learn more about Catholic Health's OB/GYN services.

Dr. Ghomi sees patients at the M. Steven Piver, M.D. Center for Women’s Health & Wellness in Buffalo.

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