Surgical method of identifying the ureters during total vaginal hysterectomy

A surgical method allowing transvaginal ureteral dissection was performed on 40 consecutive patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy. The dissection was accomplished in 37 of 40 patients (90%) without complications. There was no mortality and morbidity was quite low. It is concluded that transvaginal ureteral dissection can be a useful step during vaginal hysterectomy.     

Vaginal hysterectomy as a sterilization procedure

To evaluate vaginal hysterectomy as a method of surgical sterilization, the experiences of 100 20-39 year old patients, with an average parity of 5.5, undergoing this procedure at the University of Kentucky Medical Center were compared with an equal number of patients matched for age and gravidity undergoing puerperal tubal ligation. Vaginal hysterectomy was performed by the Heaney technique with an average blood loss of 303 ml. The most frequent complication was fever, occurring in 22% of the patients, caused most commonly by vaginal cuff cellulitis and urinary tract infection. The average hospital stay for this procedure was 6 days. In the 100 cases of tubal ligation, the total morbidity rate was 9.0%, caused most often by pelvic infection and pneumonia, and the average hospital stay lasted 4.5 days. The mean estimated blood loss ranged from 44.1 to 53.0 ml. Despite the greater number of operative complications associated with the vaginal hysterectomy, the procedure has 2 distinct advantages over tubal ligation: 1) absolute sterilization effectiveness, and 2) prevention of future uterine disease. It is concluded that vaginal hysterectomy is an acceptably safe and highly effective sterilization procedure, and is particularly suited to the indigent multiparous patient who is most susceptible to future uterine disease and who will probably not return for adequate follow-up.     

Vaginal hysterectomy for sterilization

Vaginal hysterectomy for sterilization was performed on 115 patients. The Heaney technique was used by nine gynecologists, using lidocaine and adrenaline. The average age of patients was 32.2 years and average parity 3.2. Significant unsuspected pathology was found after surgery in 21 patients. One postoperative death occurred due to a brain stem infarction. Complications after hospitalization were vaginal cuff bleeding and urinary tract infection. Lowered morbidity of patients on oral contraceptives was significant but morbidity in patients with IUD's in place was not statistically significant. Vaginal hysterectomy is recommended for elective sterilization.     

Cesarean and postpartum hysterectomy

Objective: To review the cases of cesarean and postpartum hysterectomy. Method: A retrospective study of all cases of cesarean and postpartum hysterectomy during 1985–1994. Maternal characteristics, method of delivery, indications for hysterectomy and complications were reviewed. Results: The rate of cesarean and postpartum hysterectomy was 1:1667 deliveries. Half of these cases were delivered by cesarean section. The main indications for hysterectomy were massive bleeding due to uterine atony, abnormal placental adhesions or uterine rupture. Maternal morbidity was high and there was one maternal death. Conclusion: Cesarean and postpartum hysterectomy is a necessary life-saving operation. Although maternal mortality is rare, morbidity remains high. Prevention of complications that give rise to hysterectomy and optimally timed surgery should decrease maternal morbidity and mortality.     

Complications of hysterectomies]

The authors review results concerning 1,127 hysterectomies performed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the La Grave Hospital (Toulouse, France). They compare those of abdominal hysterectomy and those of vaginal hysterectomy (359). With regard to vaginal procedures, they draw a distinction between simple hysterectomies and prolapse repairs. The results of this series are comparable with those in the literature: similar overall morbidity after vaginal (41 per cent) and abdominal (33 per cent) hysterectomy. This morbidity was lower in cases of simple vaginal hysterectomy (26 per cent). The majority of complications were infectious or febrile: 29 per cent of abdominal hysterectomies and 30 per cent of vaginal hysterectomies, including 16.4 per cent of simple vaginal hysterectomies. The authors compared abdominal hysterectomies and simple vaginal hysterectomies. The latter have many advantages: rarer mortality, overall morbidity and thrombo-embolic complications, shorter hospital stay, more comfortable and less costly postoperative course. Thus when the choice is available, gynecologists should opt for vaginal hysterectomy.     

Ten-year review of hysterectomy morbidity and mortality: can we change direction?

The medical records of all women who underwent hysterectomy for benign disease performed between 1986 and 1995 were reviewed to ascertain the incidence of morbidity and mortality of abdominal, vaginal, and laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy at a university teaching hospital. A total of 1940 hysterectomies were performed during this period; 74% of hysterectomies were performed abdominally, 24% vaginally and 2% were laparoscopically assisted. In 80% of the patients uterine leiomyomas, adenomyosis, dysfunctional uterine bleeding or uterine prolapse were the indications for hysterectomy The overall complication rate was 44% for abdominal hysterectomy (AH) and 27.3% for vaginal hysterectomy (VH). An unintended major surgical procedure was required in 3% and 1% of women undergoing AH and VH respectively The rate of return to the operating room for haemostasis was 0.6% for AH and 0.2% for VH. The AH group was four times more likely than the VH group to require surgical intervention (36% versus 9%) at readmission. Vaginal hysterectomy was associated with a lower febrile morbidity and minor complication rate. Prophylactic antibiotics reduced the febrile morbidity for VH and AH by 50% (Student's t-test, p = 0.02) and 40% (Student's t-test, p < 0.001) respectively The overall mortality rate was 1.5 per 1000.     

Vaginal hysterectomy and abdominal hysterectomy for treatment of endometrial cancer in the elderly

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the outcome of vaginal and abdominal hysterectomy for treatment of endometrial cancer in elderly patients. METHODS: In a retrospective series of 171 patients with age > or =70 years and at stages I-III, we evaluated operative and hospitalization data, as well as morbidity, mortality, and long-term survival associated with vaginal and abdominal hysterectomy. A total of 128 patients were operated on with vaginal hysterectomy and 43 cases underwent abdominal hysterectomy. RESULTS: Medically compromised patients were significantly more frequent in the vaginal surgery group (P = 0.01). Overall, the 10-year disease-specific survival rates after vaginal and abdominal hysterectomy were 80% and 78%, respectively (P = n.s.). Limiting the analysis to stage I (130 patients), 10-year disease-specific survival was 83% in 95 women operated on by the vaginal route and 84% in 35 patients operated by the abdominal approach (P = n.s.). Patients in the vaginal surgery group had a significantly shorter operative time (P = 0.01), less blood loss (P < 0.05), and were discharged earlier (P < 0.05). Severe complications occurred in 5.4% of the vaginal and in 7.0% of the abdominal procedures. Perioperative mortality was zero after vaginal hysterectomy and 2.3% after abdominal hysterectomy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal hysterectomy showed a high cure rate, shorter operative time, less blood loss, reduced morbidity, and no mortality and therefore may be considered the elective approach for treatment of elderly patients with endometrial cancer.     

Trends in thirty years of vaginal hysterectomy

Vaginal hysterectomy, as currently performed at the University of Vienna, was first described by Halban in 1932. From 1955 to 1985, a total of 9,967 hysterectomies were performed. The vaginal route was used for 6,078 (60.9 per cent) of these procedures. Sixty-four per cent of the women operated upon were multiparous, 27 per cent were uniparous and 8 per cent were nulliparous. A comparison of the periods 1955 to 1975 and 1976 to 1985 revealed the following trends: the incidence of uterine myomas (30.6 to 27.1 per cent), in situ carcinoma of the cervix (6.5 to 7.9 per cent) and endometrial carcinoma (1.4 to 0.6 per cent) remained largely constant. In the past decade, indications for positional abnormalities (uterine descent and prolapse) were encountered more often (27.6 to 41.6 per cent) than in the first observation period, while the incidence of recurrent metrorrhagia was found to decline (33.9 to 22.8 per cent). The most common complications included hemorrhage during the operation, lesions of the bladder, hemorrhage until 48 hours after surgical treatment and hemorrhage from days 2 to 14 postoperatively (around 0.5 per cent, respectively). During the second observation period, no postoperative fistulas developed. Two instances of tubal prolapse were seen. Laparotomy was done in four of 6,078 instances. Two patients died of septic complications. Whenever possible, we prefer vaginal hysterectomy because of its low complication rate, low mortality rate and low postoperative morbidity.     

Elective hysterectomy at Ilorin, Nigeria-4 year review.

This study reviews all cases of hysterectomy performed at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin over a 4-year period between 1 April 1984 and 31 March 1988. There were 155 elective hysterectomies out of 1828 elective major gynaecological procedures with a prevalence rate of 8.5%. An analysis of 128 case notes available for review revealed that 100 (78%) of the patients had total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) while the remaining 28 (22%) had vaginal hysterectomy (VH). Uterine fibroids were the leading indication for TAH while all the VH were for utero-vaginal prolapse. In spite of routine use of prophylactic antibiotics, febrile morbidity and wound sepsis were among the leading complications. Unnecessary blood transfusions were frequent. Mortality rate in elective hysterectomy was 0.78%.     

Laparoscopic supracervical (subtotal) hysterectomy (LASH)

The use of laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy with or without annexectomy has been widely discussed. We report the technique of laparoscopic supracervical (subtotal) hysterectomy (LASH), which was first performed in 1990. Laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy was carried out in a series of 36 women. The duration time was 60 min in experienced hands. There were no major complications. The feasibility and low morbidity rate of this laparoscopic approach led us to propose LASH in certain indications, particularly in cases of a uterus with multiple submucosal myomas where hysteroscopic therapy is less successful.     

A prospective randomized comparison of vaginal hysterectomy,laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy,and total laparoscopic hysterectomy in women with benign uterine disease

Objectives

To compare the clinical results of three minimally invasive hysterectomy techniques: vaginal hysterectomy (VH), laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH).

Study design

A prospective, randomized study was performed at a tertiary care center between March 2004 and October 2005. A total of 125 women indicated to undergo hysterectomy for benign uterine disease were randomly assigned to three different groups (40 VH, 44 LAVH, and 41 TLH). Outcome measures, including operating time, blood loss, rate of complications, inflammatory response, febrile morbidity, consumption of analgesics, and length of hospital stay, were assessed and compared between groups.

Results

Vaginal hysterectomy had the shortest operating time (66 min) and smallest drop in hemoglobin. However, there were technical problems with salpingo-oophorectomy from the vaginal approach (3/20 cases) and this group had a significantly higher rate of febrile complications (20%) compared to LAVH (2.3%) and TLH (7.3%). The increase in inflammatory markers was higher in vaginal hysterectomy patients. Laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy had an acceptable operating time (85 min), a low complication rate, lack of severe post-operative complications, and the lowest consumption of analgesics. However, it had the highest blood loss. Total laparoscopic hysterectomy had the longest operating time (111 min) and severe complications occurred only in this group. Conversions to another hysterectomy method occurred in all three groups, most of these conversions were to LAVH.

Conclusions

Based on our results, in women with non-malignant disease of the uterus, LAVH and VH seem to be the preferred hysterectomy techniques for general gynecological surgeons. Vaginal hysterectomy had the shortest operating time and least drop in hemoglobin, making it a suitable method for women for whom the shortest duration of surgery and anesthesia is optimal. LAVH is a versatile procedure, combining the advantages of both the vaginal and laparoscopic approach, and is preferable in cases when oophorectomy is required. Total laparoscopic hysterectomy did not appear to offer any significant benefits over the other two methods and should be strictly indicated in women where neither VH nor LAVH are feasible and should only be performed by very experienced laparoscopists.     

Perioperative morbidity of hysterectomy for benign gynaecological disease

This study reviews the perioperative surgical and associated morbidity of abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy for benign gynaecological disease. Over a 5-year period, 199296, there were 2088 hysterectomies; 1244 (60%) abdominal and 844 (40%) vaginal. The surgical morbidity for abdominal hysterectomy (6.2%) was twice that of vaginal hysterectomy (3.2%). The associated morbidity for abdominal hysterectomy (4.0%) was four times that of vaginal hysterectomy (0.9%). Additional surgical procedures (other than salpingo-oophorectomy) performed at the time of hysterectomy increased morbidity by 20% in association with abdominal hysterectomy and by 46% with vaginal hysterectomy. Serious morbidity associated with hysterectomy for benign disease was low.     

Factors affecting prophylactic oophorectomy in postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE: Prophylactic oophorectomy performed concomitantly with hysterectomy may prevent ovarian cancer. Our goal was to better understand the basis for performing concomitant oophorectomy and to determine whether this procedure is associated with increased morbidity. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study used a hospital discharge database to identify women 50 years and older who, between 1994-1996, had hysterectomies in Maryland for a benign condition. We used multiple logistic regression to examine the independent effect of physician and patient factors on the likelihood of receiving a concomitant oophorectomy. RESULTS: Concomitant oophorectomy was performed in 61% of the 6227 women in our sample. Patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy (odds ratio [OR] 11.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] 9.65, 13.51) and laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (OR 11.34; 95% CI 8.13, 15.81) were substantially more likely to have an oophorectomy than patients treated with vaginal hysterectomy, after adjusting for diagnosis and other covariates. We also found significant variation in the likelihood of receiving oophorectomy for women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy in different geographic regions. Additionally, physicians who performed many vaginal hysterectomies were significantly more likely to perform a concomitant oophorectomy. After adjusting for type of procedure, diagnosis, comorbidities, and age, oophorectomy was not associated with increased surgical morbidity. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that there are marked variations in physician practice style for concomitant oophorectomy. The variation across geographic regions and with case volume suggests the influence of nonclinical factors on oophorectomy rates.     

Perineal hernia: an undescribed complication following operative repair of vault vaginal prolaps

The presented case reports the treatment of a 80-year-old V gravida IV para suffering from a large perineal hernia and rectocele after vaginal hysterectomy and subsequently performed threefold colpocleisis due to recurrent vault vaginal prolaps.[nl]Since perioperative morbidity and mortality of geriatric patients differ not significantly from thoses of younger women age should not be used as an argument to withhold elderly organ preserving operative strategies with low recurrence rates.     

Severe complications of hysterectomy: the VALUE study

OBJECTIVES: To model the determinants of serious operative and post-operative complications of hysterectomy and their potential risk factors. DESIGN: A prospective cohort of women undergoing hysterectomies for benign indications in 1994/1995, with a six-week postsurgery follow up. POPULATION AND SETTING: A total of 37,512 women from 276 NHS and 145 private hospitals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, originally recruited to compare the outcomes of endometrial destruction with those of hysterectomy. METHODS: Gynaecologists reported hysterectomies for non-malignant indications carried out during a 12-month period beginning in October 1994 and follow up data were obtained at outpatient follow up six weeks postsurgery. Odds ratios of severe complications by indication and method, adjusting for measured intrinsic risk factors, were calculated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Severe operative and post-operative complications. RESULTS: Severe operative complications occurred in 3%. The risk decreased with age and increased with greater parity and history of serious illness. Women with symptomatic fibroids (4.4%, 95% CI 3.9-4.9) experienced more complications than women with dysfunctional uterine bleeding (3.6%, 3.2-3.8), adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.3 (95% CI 1.1-1.6). Laparoscopic procedures (6.1%) doubled the risk of operative complications of abdominal hysterectomy (3.6%) (adjusted OR = 1.9, 1.5-2.5). Post-operative complications occurred in around 1% of women, with a slight decrease with increasing age, and the strongest risk factor was a history of operative complications. Relative to dysfunctional uterine bleeding (1.0%), a higher risk for fibroids (1.2%) persisted after adjustments (RR = 1.5, 1.1-2.0). Both vaginal (1.2%) and laparoscopic (1.7%) techniques had significantly higher adjusted risks than abdominal operations (0.9%), RR = 1.4 (1.0-1.9) and RR = 1.6 (1.0-2.7). There were no operative deaths; 14 women died within the six-week postsurgery (a crude mortality rate of 3.8/1000, 2.5-6.4). CONCLUSIONS: Hysterectomy is a common, routine surgery with comparatively rare serious complications. However, younger women, women with more vascular pelvis, who undergo hysterectomy, especially laparoscopically assisted vaginal surgery for symptomatic fibroids, are at most risk of experiencing severe complications both operatively and post-operatively. Therefore, a less invasive alternative treatment for symptomatic fibroids could particularly benefit this group of women, while less invasive treatments for dysfunctional uterine bleeding, such as various methods of endometrial ablations or resections, would need to meet the current low levels of clinical complications in order to replace hysterectomy.     

Intramyometrial coring as an adjunct to vaginal hysterectomy

A retrospective review of 902 hysterectomies, 727 (80.6%) performed vaginally and 175 (19.4%) abdominally, is presented. The technique of intramyometrial coring was used in 76% of the vaginal hysterectomy group. Surgical indications, length of surgery, length of hospital stay, and complications are analyzed. The evidence presented suggests that intramyometrial coring may be used for the vaginal removal of many uteri for which abdominal hysterectomy has been traditionally the procedure of choice. The clinical findings confirm that vaginal hysterectomies with intramyometrial coring are associated with lower morbidity and a significant decrease in length of hospitalization.     

Face presentation: retrospective study of 32 cases at term

OBJECTIVE: To determine the etiologic factors, circumstances of diagnosis, obstetrical management and complications of face presentation and to value the maternal and foetal prognosis of this presentation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-two cases of face presentation have been observed in the maternity wards of Reims and Troyes over the last 12 years. RESULTS: The incidence of face presentation was 0.7 per 1000 deliveries. Spontaneous vaginal delivery occurred with mento-anterior presentation 73% of the time and caesarean section was performed in 100% of mento-posterior presentation. There was no increasing rate of foetal or maternal mortality and morbidity with vaginal delivery. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Face presentation is an unusual complication of pregnancy with obstetric factors that predispose the foetus to face presentation. The low foetal and maternal mortality and morbidity substantiate the effectiveness of conservative management in face presentation.     

Complications of vaginal hysterectomy under “difficult” circumstances

Summary Vaginal hysterectomy is less invasive than hysterectomy performed via the abdominal approach. The vaginal approach may be made difficult by prior conisation, a need to remove the adnexae or marked uterine enlargement requiring morcellement. In this retrospective study we have investigated the impact of these factors on the incidence of complications in 1912 patients subject to vaginal hysterectomy. We have studied the incidence of intraoperative hemorrhage, bladder damage, hemorrhage up to 48 h after surgery, hemorrhage up to 14 days after surgery, vault abscesses or collections and pelvic peritonitis. In patients with prior morcellement, intraoperative hemorrhage was significantly more frequent. All other complications were not significantly increased by the intraoperative difficulties specified above. Thus even “difficult” vaginal hysterectomy would seem to carry low morbidity.     

Ultrasound detection of vault haematoma following vaginal hysterectomy

Objective To assess whether ultrasound detection of vault haematoma can be used as a predictor of post-ooperative morbidity following vaginal hysterectomy.
Design Prospective observational study of consecutive cases of vaginal hysterectomy performed between 1991 and 1994.
Sample Two hundred and twenty-three women having undergone vaginal hysterectomy.
Methods All women hadtransvaginal ultrasound examination by an independent observer on the third post-operative day. Routine observations and clinical assessments were made by establishedmanagement protocol, by staff blinded to the ultrasound findings.
Main out come measures Febrile morbidity; haemoglobin drop; need for blood transfusion; length of stay in hospital; re-admission rate and length of stay.
Results Of the 223 scanned women, 55 (25%) had a vault haematoma. This group was compared with the 168 women with no haematoma. Significant increases in febrile morbidity (31% vs 7%), post-operative haemoglobin drop (2–5 g/dL vs 1.6 g/dL), need for blood transfusion (145% vs 1.2%), representation to hospital (25.5% vs 5.4%)and length of hospital stay (8.87 days vs 6.25 days) wereseen in the haematoma group.
Conclusion Ultrasound detection of vault haematoma following vaginal hysterectomy is a commonfinding associated with increased febrile morbidity, need for blood transfusion, longer hospital stayand higher re-admission rate. In view of increasing demand for early discharge, driven by purchasersand patients, post-operative ultrasound identifies a high risk population and is both convenient andnoninvasive. To further reduce morbidity, it also offers the opportunity to perform a controlled trialof prophylactic antibiotics in this identified subset.     

Morbidity associated with vaginal hysterectomies in Queensland public teaching hospitals

Hysterectomies performed vaginally are associated with less perioperative risk than those performed abdominally but the risk is not negligible. There are little sizable and/or contemporary Australian data of adverse outcomes associated with vaginal hysterectomy available. A retrospective analysis was undertaken in each of five Queensland public teaching hospitals of the last 200 women in each centre who underwent a vaginal hysterectomy for benign reasons. Serious morbidity complicated 14.0% of vaginal hysterectomies, minor morbidity was associated with 24.0% of hysterectomies and, overall, 29.9% suffered any (ie serious or minor) morbidity. Following multivariate analysis there remained an association between serious perioperative morbidity and ASA > or = 2 (relative risk (RR) 1.89 (1.37-2.61)) and omission of prophylactic antibiotics (RR 2.0 (1.45-2.78)). There also remained an association between any morbidity and use of antidepressants (RR 1.35 (1.07-1.72)), epilepsy (RR 2.00 (136-2.95)), preoperative hypoalbuminaemia (albumin < or = 35 g/L RR 2.08 (1.33-3.24)) as well as ASA > or = 2 (RR 1.24 (1.00-1.54)) and omission of prophylactic antibiotics (RR 1.45 (1.18-1.79)).