About 10 percent present to ER after hysterectomy for benign disease

(HealthDay)—Overall, 9.1 percent of women who undergo hysterectomy for benign disease present to the emergency department and are not readmitted to the hospital, according to research published in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Nichole Mahnert, M.D., from the University of Arizona in Phoenix, and colleagues conducted a secondary data analysis of hysterectomies for benign disease using the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative. They examined the incidence of emergency department visits within 30 days after hysterectomy, and identified risk factors for these visits.

The researchers found that 9.1 percent of the 10,274 women who underwent hysterectomy for benign disease during the study period presented to the emergency department and were not readmitted to the hospital. Younger age, higher parity, Medicaid or self-pay insurance, prior venous thromboembolism, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, preoperative surgical indication of chronic pelvic pain, and postoperative-day-one pain scores greater than 4 on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale were risk factors for emergency department visits after hysterectomy for benign disease, in multivariate analysis. The most common primary emergency department diagnoses were for pain and gastrointestinal and genitourinary complaints (29.5, 12.8, and 10.7 percent, respectively).

"Emergency department visits might be avoided with expanded perioperative education and improved communication pathways for high-risk patients," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.