INFLUENCE OF DIAGNOSTIC CONIZATION ON SURGICAL MORBIDITY AND SURVIVALIN PATIENTS UNDERGOING RADICAL HYSTERECTOMY FOR STAGE IB AND IIA CERVICAL-CARCINOMA

The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate whether dia gnostic conization influenced surgical morbidity of a subsequent radic al hysterectomy in patients with early cervical carcinoma. Furthermore , the impact of an irradical conization on nodal metastases and progno sis was analysed, Included were 271 patients with stage IB and IIA cer vical carcinoma who underwent an Okabayashi radical hysterectomy betwe en 1982 and 1991. There were 68 patients who underwent conization prio r to medical hysterectomy. The conization-radical hysterectomy interva l was approximately six weeks. Surgical morbidity in patients with a p revious conization was not significantly different from that in patien ts without a previous conization. Survival was also not significantly different between these groups (95% vs. 91%, p = 0.23). Multivariate a nalysis showed that tin irradical conization was not associated with a n increased risk for nodal metastases or a poorer prognosis. We sugges t that in early cervical carcinoma, a diagnostic conization does not a dversely affect early morbidity of a following radical hysterectomy. A n irradical conization does not seem to influence prognosis.