ABDOMINAL AND VAGINAL RADICAL HYSTERECTOMY AMONG US WOMEN AGED 65 YEARS AND OLDER

Unlike most European and Asian countries, radical vaginal hysterectomy (RVH) is not performed often in the United States, especially among o lder women. To examine the changes in RVH over the years, trends in ho spital stay, hospital charges, and patient survival, we studied women aged 65 years and older undergoing RVH and compared them with patients receiving radical abdominal hysterectomy (RAH). During the study peri od there were a total of 288 RVH surgeries compared with 4,835 RAH sur geries. There were no significant changes in the number or proportion of RVH patients over 8 years (p = .50, trend test). On the average, RV H patients were significantly older and had shorter hospital stays. Am ong patients without cancer, there were no significant differences in the age, race, or survival of patients having either RVH or RAH. Simil ar results were obtained for patients with cancer.