[Preservation of pelvic nerve plexus during radical hysterectomy]

Preservation of the pelvic nerve plexus at the sites of uterosacral and cardinal ligaments was practiced during radical hysterectomy in 104 cases of cervical cancer (study group). Conventional radical hysterectomy without preservation of nerve plexus was performed in 100 cases (control group). The amount of residual urine was measured postoperatively to evaluate the recovery of function of urination. The average time of recovery of normal urination was 18.25 +/- 1.93 days for the study group and 24.05 +/- 1.68 days for the control group (P less than 0.01). There was no difference of 5- and 10-year survival rates between these two groups (P greater than 0.05).