Perioperative morbidity of hysterectomy for benign gynaecological disease

This study reviews the perioperative surgical and associated morbidity of abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy for benign gynaecological disease. Over a 5-year period, 199296, there were 2088 hysterectomies; 1244 (60%) abdominal and 844 (40%) vaginal. The surgical morbidity for abdominal hysterectomy (6.2%) was twice that of vaginal hysterectomy (3.2%). The associated morbidity for abdominal hysterectomy (4.0%) was four times that of vaginal hysterectomy (0.9%). Additional surgical procedures (other than salpingo-oophorectomy) performed at the time of hysterectomy increased morbidity by 20% in association with abdominal hysterectomy and by 46% with vaginal hysterectomy. Serious morbidity associated with hysterectomy for benign disease was low.