Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy: A Review of 500 Cases

Seo, Jung Ho; Eun, Dae Sook

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effectiveness and the value of Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy, and to evaluate the possibility whether to replace abdominal hysterectomy to LAVH. METHOD: A retrospective study of the surgical procedure was performed by one team with one experienced laparoscopist. The operations were carried out in a private hospital, where operative laparoscopic set was available. All 500 patients underwent LAVH from March 1998 to March 1999 at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Eun hospital. Patients were required hysterectomy for uterine fibroid, chronic pelvic pain and carcinoma in situ of cervix,. etc.
RESULTS
The average operating time was 56.4+/-11.8 minutes, and the mean estimated postoperative hemoglobin loss was 0.62+/-1.0 g/dL. The mean uterine weight was 223.9+/-129.7 gram (range from 60gram to 800gram). The most common pathologic finding was adenomyosis(59.6%),and the second most pathologic findig was uterine fibroid(47%). No serious complications occured, but 3 vault hematoma cases occured. The combined procedures were salpingoophorectomy, adhesiolysis, and anterior or posterior colporrhaphy, etc.
CONCLUSIONS
LAVH that has been possible to replace abdominal hysterectomy, may be valuable for gynecologic uterine diseases, but the experience is important for laparoscopic surgery. The learning curve influences the results of surgery and incidence of complications. Therefore the procedure may only be carried out by experienced laparoscopists, then the maximum value and advantages of laparoscopic surgery can be obtained. Our experience indicates that LAVH is to reduce almost all incidence of abdominal hysterectomy(0.4%)