Reduction of infectious morbidity with uterine stapling device

Available data from comparative trials involving 483 patients were analyzed to determine the rate of infectious morbidity following the use of absorbable staples versus traditional incision and suturing of the vaginal cuff in abdominal hysterectomy. Infections occurred in 24 of 268 (9%) patients who received absorbable sutures versus 36 of 215 (16.7%) patients who received traditional suturing (p=0.007). The individual investigators attributed the lower infection rate to reduced operating time, decreased pelvic contamination from cervicovaginal flora, and decreased operative site blood loss.