The Wertheim–Meigs operation (named after Ernst Wertheim and Joe Vincent Meigs) is a surgical procedure for the treatment of cervical cancer performed by way of an abdominal incision.

[2][3] In 1898, Ernst Wertheim, a Viennese physician, developed the radical total hysterectomy with removal of the pelvic lymph nodes and the parametrium.

It consists of the following measures:[citation needed] The ovaries and fallopian tubes are typically left intact, although this decision is made on an individual basis.

The most important complications are ureteral, ureterovaginal, and vesicovaginal fistulae, appearing during the immediate postoperative convalescence period or later mainly in patients who received subsequent radiotherapy.

Other complications are described: intraoperative hemorrhage due to pelvic large vessel lesion, ureter or bladder accidental section, abdominal wall dehiscence, ureteral obstruction causing hydronephrosis and renal exclusion, disorders such as urinary incontinence, pollakiuria, vesical atony, often accompanied by urinary tract infection and hematuria.