Salpingectomy

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Salpingectomy refers to the surgical removal of a Fallopian tube. The procedure was first performed by Lawson Tait in patients with a bleeding tubal pregnancy; this procedure has since saved the lives of countless women. Other indications for a salpingectomy include infected tubes, (as in a hydrosalpinx) or as part of the surgical procedure for tubal cancer. Salpingectomy is different from a salpingostomy, a procedure where an opening is made into the tube to remove an ectopic pregnancy, but the tube itself is not removed.

Salpingectomy has been traditionally done via a laparotomy, more recently however, laparoscopic salpingectomies have become more common as part of minimally invasive surgery.

Salpingectomy is commonly done in conjunction as part of a procedure called a salpingo-oophorectomy where the one or both ovaries as well as one or both Fallopian tubes are removed in one operation.

Salpingectomies were performed in the United States in the 20th century in accordance with eugenics legislation. From Buck v. Bell:

The Virginia statute providing for the sexual sterilization of inmates of institutions supported by the State who shall be found to be afflicted with an hereditary form of insanity or imbecility, is within the power of the State under the Fourteenth Amendment.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0274_0200_ZS.html