Abdominal hysterectomy for the enlarged myomatous uterus compared with vaginal hysterectomy with morcellation

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare intraoperative and postoperative complications of abdominal hysterectomy for the enlarged, myomatous uterus with vaginal hysterectomy with morcellation. STUDY DESIGN: Medical records of 139 patients who underwent vaginal hysterectomy with morcellation and 244 patients who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy for an enlarged, myomatous uterus between August 1990 and July 2001 were reviewed. Uterine weights of >982 g were excluded because this was the largest uterus removed vaginally, which left 208 evaluable cases of total abdominal hysterectomy. The perioperative and postoperative course of the two groups was compared. The Student t test was used for continuous variables, and the Fisher exact test was used for binary or categoric data. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups in surgical or anesthetic risk factors (P>.05). Operative time was similar between the groups (P>.05). Length of hospital stay was increased significantly with total abdominal hysterectomy (mean, 3.9 days vs 2.6 days; P<.001). Perioperative complications were increased with the abdominal route (10% vs 25%, P<.001). CONCLUSION: In this large series, uterine morcellation at the time of vaginal hysterectomy is safe and facilitates the removal of moderately enlarged and well-supported uteri and is associated with decreased hospital stay and perioperative morbidity rate compared with the abdominal route.