The effects of hysterectomy on sexual arousal in women with a history of benign uterine fibroids.

Research indicates hysterectomy surgery may adversely affect the pelvic autonomic nerves and autonomic mechanisms are integral to the sexual arousal response in women. This study explored the possibility that women who undergo hysterectomy may experience an impaired vasocongestive response to erotic stimulation. Thirty-two women with a history of benign uterine fibroids who had ( n = 15) or had not ( n = 17) undergone hysterectomy participated in two experimental sessions in which self-report and physiological (vaginal pulse amplitude; VPA) sexual responses were recorded during an erotic film presentation. In one of the sessions, the women exercised on a treadmill for 20 min prior to viewing the erotic films as a means inducing autonomic arousal. Exercise significantly increased VPA but not subjective sexual responses in both groups of women. VPA responses were marginally higher among the fibroid than hysterectomy group in the no-exercise condition. The hypothesis that physiological sexual arousal may be impaired with hysterectomy surgery was only partially supported.