Less disruptive surgery safe for cervical cancer

Women with cervical cancer have an alternative to undergoing a radical hysterectomy through an abdominal incision, UK researchers report. They say that a laparoscopically assisted procedure in which the uterus is removed through the vagina appears to be as safe as the conventional operation, and to offer other advantages.

"The implications of this study are that women with cervical cancer can benefit from the use of minimal-access surgery without compromising safety or cure rates," lead investigator Dr. David J. Morgan told Reuters Health. "For patients this means less time in hospital and less complications."
Morgan, at Stranmillis University College, Belfast, and colleagues studied 30 women who underwent laparoscopically assisted radical vaginal hysterectomy and 30 similar women who had open surgery.

During the procedure, blood loss was greater in the open group, and transfusions were given to 40 percent of these women compared to 17 percent in the vaginal hysterectomy group.

There were four complications from the operation in the laparoscopic group and seven in the open group, the team reports in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

The average time needed for the operations was longer in the vaginal hysterectomy group, but the patients' hospital stay was significantly shorter than for those who underwent open surgery (5.9 versus 7.8 nights).

After an average follow-up of more than 30 months, there were two cancer recurrences in each group.

"Our study," Morgan concluded, "involved modest numbers, but supports gynecologists who wish to learn this new technique, which is still controversial to some specialists."

SOURCE: BJOG, May 2007.