Vaginal hysterectomy: a new technique of vault closure

The study was conducted on 200 patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, Bombay over a period of 2 years from January 1988 to December 1989. A new technique of vault closure in 150 patients was compared with that of classical and Heaney's technique 25 cases each. Only 9.33% patients undergoing new technique belonged to the age group of 60 years and above. Out of 150 patients in the new technique 70 belonged to gravida III and IV. Using this new technique it was possible to decrease the average operative time by 5 to 15 minutes and the hospital stay by 2 full days. The postoperative febrile morbidity in the new technique group was 2.66% and 6 patients (3.99%) had significant haemorrhage. Three patients had vault infection contrasting with a significantly higher incidence in other two groups and 1.33% of cases (2/150) had fimbrial prolapse as against 12% incidence with Heaney's technique.