[The pathology of the stump of the uterine cervix]

With reference to 70 patients, the authors studied the pathology of the stump of the cervix left after subtotal hysterectomy. The wide range of disorders presented by women after partial hysterectomy included metrorrhagia (44.2 percent of cases), pelvic pain, leucorrhoea, cervical pain, and functional disorders related to prolapse. Lesions found on the stump of the cervix included: cancer in 15.7 percent of cases, of which the clinical symptoms were not specific to the stump of the cervix: however, the methods of treating such cancers, of the usual methods are used, raise complex problems; prolapse was found after subtotal hysterectomy in 27.1 percent of cases and the symptomatology was not unusual. Here also, the absence of the uterus increases the difficulties of surgery. Thus subtotal hysterectomy appears to present more dangers than advantages and, except in particular cases, the authors prefer total hysterectomy.