Converting potential abdominal hysterectomy to vaginal one: laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy

Background. The idea of laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) is to convert a potential abdominal hysterectomy to a vaginal one, thus decreasing associated morbidity and hastening recovery. We compared intraoperative and postoperative outcomes between LAVH and abdominal hysterectomy, to find out if LAVH achieves better clinical results compared with abdominal hysterectomy. Material and methods. A total of 48 women were enrolled in the study. Finally 17 patients underwent LAVH (cases) and 20 underwent abdominal hysterectomy (controls). All surgeries were performed by a set of gynecologists with more or less same level of surgical experience and expertise. Results.None of the patients in LAVH required conversion to laparotomy. Mean operating time was 30 minutes longer in LAVH group as compared to abdominal hysterectomy group (167.06 + 31.97 min versus 135.25 + 31.72 min; P < 0.05). However, the mean blood loss in LAVH was 100 mL lesser than that in abdominal hysterectomy and the difference was found to be statistically significant (248.24 + 117.79 mL versus 340.00 + 119.86 mL; P < 0.05). Another advantage of LAVH was significantly lower pain scores on second and third postoperative days. Overall complications and postoperative hospital stay were not significantly different between the two groups.