[Hospitalization and convalescence after hysterectomy. Open or laparoscopic surgery?]

Approximately 6,000 hysterectomies are performed per year in Denmark. The major part of these are performed by laparotomy, although the use of laparoscopically assisted techniques is increasing. Laparoscopic surgery seems to lead to a reduction in the need for postoperative hospitalization and convalescence, which is confirmed in the few available randomised and to our knowledge all retrospective studies. The length of stay seems to be reduced from four to two days if the patient is hysterectomised by the laparoscopically assisted or vaginal techniques. The introduction of endoscopic techniques has caused a change in routines and recommendations, but not for women operated by the classical open procedures. In this article we question the relevance of comparing different types of operations given the fact that the routines and recommendations are different.