Laparoscopic Compared With Open Surgery for Severe Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and Tubo-Ovarian Abscess

To compare operative outcomes of laparoscopic surgery compared with laparotomy in patients with moderate to severe pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, a national inpatient database for acute-care inpatients in Japan, we performed a large, nationwide retrospective cohort study. We identified all patients aged 18 years or older who were diagnosed with PID with or without tubo-ovarian abscess and were admitted to a participating hospital from July 2010 to March 2016. We excluded patients who were pregnant, had cancer, or for whom data were missing. We compared outcomes between patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery compared with laparotomy. Propensity score-matched analyses were performed to compare operative outcomes including postoperative length of stay, surgical complications, in-hospital deaths, and revision surgery.

Of 27,841 patients with PID, 4,419 (15.9%) underwent surgical intervention. From among 749 women undergoing laparoscopy and 3,670 women undergoing laparotomy for PID, 740 pairs were created for propensity score matching. The laparoscopic group had shorter operation duration (125 vs 166 min), fewer blood transfusions (4.7% vs 10.0%), and shorter length of hospital stay (median 5 days vs 7 days; all P<.001) compared with the laparotomy group. There were no significant differences between groups for in-hospital deaths, surgical complications, and revision surgery.

Laparoscopic surgery may have clinical advantages over laparotomy in patients diagnosed with severe PID.