Vaginal Closure with EndoGIA to Prevent Tumor Spillage in Laparoscopic Radical Hysterectomy for Cervical Cancer

Study Objective

To demonstrate a method of vaginal closure with the EndoGIA surgical stapler (Medtronic, Istanbul, Turkey) to prevent tumor spillage in laparoscopic radical hysterectomy.

Design

A step-by-step explanation of the procedure using a video.

Setting

Women's health teaching and research hospital.

Patient

A 40-year-old woman with clinical stage IBI cervical squamous cell carcinoma.

Interventions

Laparoscopic type C radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection and ovarian transposition. Institutional ethical committee approval was not sought. However, the patient signed an informed consent that allows us to use her clinical data.

Measurements and Main Results

Minimally invasive surgery is increasingly being used in cervical cancer surgery. However, there is a current and significant debate regarding the safety of these methods. Colpotomy, which is the last step of laparoscopic radical hysterectomy, could be related to an increased risk for tumor spillage. Vaginal closure before colpotomy may be an option to prevent this spillage. In this method, after completion of the radical hysterectomy steps, the initial 5-mm left lower quadrant trocar was changed to a 15-mm trocar to allow for the placement of an EndoGIA with a green cartridge. The uterine manipulator was removed, and the uterus was elevated with a myoma screw. Then, the stapler was placed, and we checked that no other unintended structure was included in the jaws of the stapler before the firing. The EndoGIA surgical stapler was fired 2times to close the vagina. The stapler places 2 triple-staggered rows of titanium staples and knife blade cuts simultaneously between them. Once the vagina was divided, the stapler was released. The upper part of the vaginal cuff was excised and sent to pathology as a surgical margin, and the uterus was removed through the vagina. Finally, the vaginal cuff was closed with intracorporeal suturing.

Conclusion

Vaginal closure with the EndoGIA surgical stapler before colpotomy provides a safe and easy method to prevent tumor spillage and could improve the unfavorable results related to minimally invasive surgery in patients with cervical cancer.