A second opinion before gynaecological surgery

A second opinion is a fresh look at the same facts. Dr. Ragavi reads your scan and blood reports, the operation notes or discharge summary if you have had surgery before, and the advice you were given, and forms her own view. Sometimes she agrees completely, and says so; that is a useful result, because you then go into the operation with confidence. Sometimes the same diagnosis has a less drastic treatment, a better time, or a route that keeps an organ you want to keep. Sometimes a test is missing and the decision should wait for it.

It is not a review of another doctor. Nothing about the first doctor's competence is discussed, and you are not asked to choose sides. You can take the opinion back to your own doctor, or you can continue treatment here; both are your choice, and no one is offended by either.

The decisions women most often bring: a hysterectomy advised for fibroids, heavy bleeding or prolapse; myomectomy or watching; removal of an ovarian cyst or an ovary; a planned caesarean; surgery for endometriosis; and IVF advised without a full evaluation of both partners.

Bring everything: every scan report, and the films or CD if you have them, blood and Pap smear reports, prescriptions, previous operation notes and discharge summaries, and the letter or prescription with the advice you were given. Put them in date order. Missing reports are the commonest reason a second opinion is incomplete, and old reports matter as much as new ones.

Dr. Ragavi goes through the history from the beginning rather than from the last report, because the reason for a decision often lies in what happened a year ago. She examines you if it will change the answer, in the separate examination room with the lady attender present, and repeats a scan only when the existing one does not answer the question. A test that would change the decision, such as a haemoglobin, a hormone profile or a semen analysis, is asked for before the opinion is final.

A second opinion visit is booked as a longer appointment, so that there is time to read and time to explain.

You leave with a clear answer to three questions: does she agree with the diagnosis, does she agree with the treatment advised, and what are the alternatives with their trade-offs. Where an operation is right, she says so, and explains what it involves and what recovery looks like. Where it can wait, she says how long and what to watch for. Where there is a choice, for example between removing a fibroid and removing the uterus, or between a hormonal IUD and surgery for heavy periods, both are laid out with their benefits and risks in plain figures.

The opinion is written down for you in plain words, with the reports it is based on, so that you can discuss it with your family and with your own doctor.

If you decide to be treated by Dr. Ragavi, the plan continues from the same visit. Medicines and follow-up are at the clinic. Operations are her own, at the affiliated hospital, on a date fixed with you. The pages on hysterectomy (uterus removal), fibroid treatment in Chennai, endometriosis treatment in Chennai, laparoscopic gynaecological surgery in Chennai and infertility treatment in Chennai describe what each involves.

The second opinion consultation happens at RV Clinic Madipakkam or RV Clinic Thalambur, whichever is closer to you; the Thalambur clinic has evening hours for those coming after work from the OMR side. If you choose treatment here and an operation is needed, it is done by Dr. Ragavi herself at Unittas Multispeciality Hospital, which is 21 km from the Madipakkam clinic and 5 km from the Thalambur clinic. RV Clinic is an outpatient clinic. No operation is done at either clinic address.