Camilla leaves hospital after hysterectomy

13 April 2012

The Duchess of Cornwall is convalescing at home today following her hysterectomy.

Camilla left hospital last night, three days after undergoing the operation.

The Prince of Wales collected his wife from King Edward VII Hospital in central London and the couple returned to Clarence House.

A Clarence House spokeswoman said the Duchess was "recovering well".

Camilla, 59, will rest for a further six weeks, with planned engagements postponed.

Clarence House described the operation - the removal of the womb - as routine and said it was not cancer-related, but refused to discuss Camilla's condition further.

A hysterectomy can be performed for several medical conditions including fibroids ("lumps" in the uterus), cancer, and endometriosis, when small pieces of the womb lining stick to other parts of the body, such as the bladder.

Fibroids or irregular bleedings can occur in women taking hormone replacement therapy.

Other reasons can include painful pelvic inflammatory disease, caused by infection or prolapse where the uterus or part of the vaginal wall drops down as a result of weak tissues.

More than 40,000 hysterectomies are carried out in the UK each year and one in five British women will have one before the age of 60.

The operation may be relatively common, but it is still a major surgical procedure.

Following the operation, which is almost always performed under general anaesthetic, patients can feel very sore and uncomfortable.

Most women stay in hospital for about four days, during which time they are encouraged to move around to help prevent blood clots.

They then go home for further rest, and are told not to lift anything heavier than a full kettle for the first four to six weeks.

It is also advisable to avoid driving a car for up to six weeks and to abstain from sex for four to six weeks.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in