Nerve-sparing approach reduces sexual dysfunction in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical hysterectomy

Although growing evidence suggests the beneficial effects of a nerve-sparing (NS) approach to surgery in cervical cancer patients, only limited data on NS laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) are available, and no studies have investigated the effects of NS-LRH on sexual function.

This study aims to determine whether the implementation of NS-LRH impacts on sexual function in cervical cancer patients.

Sexually active cervical cancer patients undergoing type C (class III) LRH between 2004 and 2013 were enrolled in this prospective study.

Preoperative and postoperative sexual function were assessed using a validated questionnaire, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). The FSFI evaluates desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.

Forty patients undergoing radical hysterectomy (20 conventional LRH vs. 20 NS-LRH) represented the study group. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups (P > 0.05). No differences in preoperative FSFI scores were recorded (P > 0.05). We observed that both LRH and NS-LRH worsened postoperative FSFI scores (P < 0.001). However, patients undergoing NS-LRH had higher postoperative FSFI scores than patients undergoing LRH (21.3 ± 9.4 vs. 14.2 ± 12.5; P = 0.04). Considering postoperative domain scores, we observed that desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain scores were similar between groups (P > 0.05), while patients undergoing NS-LRH experienced higher lubrication (3.4 ± 2.3 vs. 1.7 ± 2.2; P = 0.02) and satisfaction (4.6 ± 3.9 vs. 2.8 ± 2.2; P = 0.004) scores in comparison with patients undergoing conventional LRH. No between-group differences in survival outcomes were found.

Both conventional LRH and NS-LRH impact negatively on patients' sexual function. However, the NS approach impairs sexual function less, minimizing the effects of radical surgery.