Laparoscopy can often be used to surgically treat a patient, reducing the whole affair to an out-patient episode. Even though a benign neoplasm, or tumor, of the ovary is curable through removal, there are other considerations. Some, if ruptured upon removal, can be irritating enough to cause peritonitis like a ruptured appendix , even though the contents are benign. In the case of a dermoid, hair, brain tissue, and teeth are often present. Even a part of a jaw bone isn t unheard of.
Glandular tissue can function to cause hyperthyroidism or adrenal-like problems.
The glandular and other clinical manifestations can cause confusion in the diagnosis which delays addressing the real problem, which is of course gynecological. Spilling the contents of a dermoid cyst, as mentioned above, can delay recovery with its resulting peritonitis. Some benign tumors can have estrogen production with resulting menstrual problems. If a fibroma of the ovary puts out estrogen, a patient may present with no periods at all and feeling like she s pregnant. Other cysts can have serous or mucous products which can swell an ovarian cyst to extremely large sizes.