A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LAPAROSCOPIC ASSISTED VAGINAL HYSTERECTOMIES COMPARED WITH VAGINAL HYSTERECTOMIES UNASSISTED BY LAPAROSCOPY AND TRANSABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMIES

The first 115 laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies (LAVH) done by our faculty surgeons were compared with 220 vaginal hysterecto mies (VH) and 194 abdominal hysterectomies (AH) done in our affiliated hospitals over the same period of time. Logistic regression analysis indicates that LAVHs were done for cases that would significantly be m ore likely selected for AH than for VH (p < 0.0001). Matched case cont rol studies with 28 LAVH/VH and 34 LAVH/AH pairs and bivariate analyse s demonstrated that LAVH can be accomplished with low morbidity, short lengths of stay, and little, if any, increase in operating times comp ared with VH and AH. The LAVH procedure can be expected to replace man y AHs in the future.