Laparoscopic myomectomy with lateral dissection of the uterine artery.

BACKGROUND: We assessed the results and impact of lateral uterine artery dissection on clinical outcome following laparoscopic myomectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data for 27 laparoscopic myomectomy cases (Group I) and 54 laparoscopic myomectomy cases combined with lateral uterine artery dissection (Group II) between January 2001 and August 2004 in one center. Only 81 patients who had dominant fibroids between 4 cm and 10 cm in diameter were included in the study. We assessed the clinical outcomes: perioperative blood loss, operating time, hospital stay, complications, hemoglobin decrease, inflammatory response, and tissue markers (C-reactive protein, white blood cells, creatinine kinase) changes. RESULTS: The mean operating time was 70.37 minutes in group I and 78.61 minutes in group II. The mean length of hospital stay was 2.7 days versus 2.2 days, respectively (P>0.05). The difference in intraoperative blood loss was 70.1 mL (147.7 mL vs 77.3 mL, Group I) and 33.9 mL (105 mL vs 71.1 mL, Group II); estimated postoperative blood loss was statistically significant (P<0.001, P<0.05, respectively). Group 2 demonstrated a less intense stress response in C-reactive protein (P<0.001) and white blood cell count (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The dissection of the uterine artery in laparoscopic myomectomy is a feasible operative procedure with a low rate of complications. The procedure reduced perioperative blood loss and resulted in significant improvement in fibroid-related symptoms.