COMPLICATIONS AND RESULTS OF 361 HYSTERECTOMIES PERFORMED AT LAPAROSCOPY

BACKGROUND: Before the appropriate use of laparoscopy in hysterectomy can be determined, it is necessary to evaluate the results, including complications, There must also be an accepted classification;system to facilitate accurate comparison to total abdominal hysterectomy, STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively evaluated the charts of 361 women who unde rwent hysterectomy for various benign pathologic conditions. Intraoper ative and postoperative complication rates for hysterectomy performed at operative laparoscopy were examined, The hysterectomies were classi fied as one of four types according to the number of steps performed l aparoscopically, Ah women were candidates for total abdominal hysterec tomy, but not vaginal hysterectomy, RESULTS: The overall complication rate for hysterectomy performed at operative laparoscopy was 11.1 perc ent, Most complications were minor, including cystitis (1.66 percent), transient high fever (1.39 percent), abdominal wall ecchymosis (1.12 percent), and pneumonia and bronchitis (1.12 percent), There was no co rrelation between the type of laparoscopic hysterectomy performed and the complication rate, CONCLUSIONS: Our rate of intraoperative and pos toperative complications associated with laparoscopic hysterectomy com pares favorably with published com plication rates for vaginal and abd ominal hysterectomy.