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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Laparoscopic Extracorporeal Knot-Tying for Uterine Vessel Occlusion during Hysterectomy with Cervical Cerclage in Large Uteri
Published on: September 12, 2025
Long term effects of hysterectomy on mortality: nested cohort study
Lisa Iversen1, Philip C Hannaford, Alison M Elliott
1Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill Health Centre, Aberdeen AB25 2AY. l.iversen@abdn.ac.uk
Objectives:
To investigate the long term risk (mean > 20 years) of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in women who had or had not had a hysterectomy.
Design:
Nested cohort study.
Setting:
Royal College of General Practitioners' oral contraception study.
Participants:
7410 women (3705 flagged at the NHS central registries for cancer and death who had a hysterectomy during the oral contraception study and 3705 who were flagged but did not have the operation).
Main Outcome Measures:
Mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Results:
623 (8.4%) women had died by the end of follow-up (308 in the hysterectomy group and 315 in the non-hysterectomy group). Older women who had had a hysterectomy had a 6% reduced risk of death compared with women of a similar age who did not have the operation (adjusted hazard ratio 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.75 to 1.18). Compared with young women who did not have a hysterectomy those who were younger at hysterectomy had an adjusted hazard ratio for all cause mortality of 0.82 (0.65 to 1.03). Hysterectomy was not associated with a significantly altered risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease or cancer regardless of age.
Conclusion:
Hysterectomy did not increase the risk of death in the medium to long term.