Laparoscopic hysterectomy rates on rise over past decade

(HealthDay)—The rate of laparoscopic hysterectomy has greatly increased over the past decade and is now higher than that of abdominal hysterectomy, according to a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Lindsay C. Turner, M.D., and colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh assessed trends among 13,973 patients who had undergone hysterectomies at Magee-Womens Hospital from 2000 to 2010.

The researchers found that over this period, laparoscopic hysterectomy increased from 3.3 to 43.5 percent, abdominal hysterectomy decreased from 74.5 to 36.3 percent, and vaginal hysterectomy decreased from 22.2 to 17.2 percent. In 2010, three percent of laparoscopic cases converted to open surgery. Hysterectomy was performed for gynecological malignancy in 24.4 percent of cases. The average length of stay was only 1.0 day for laparoscopic hysterectomy and only 1.6 days for vaginal hysterectomy compared with 3.1 days for abdominal hysterectomy. The average patient age for the three procedures ranged from an average of 46.9 to 51.7 years old, with a significant increase in patient age over time.

"This study confirms that rates of laparoscopic procedures for hysterectomy have dramatically increased over the last decade at our tertiary hospital, which is consistent with other reports in the literature," the authors write.