title: Reducing the hospital stay following vaginal hysterectomy.
abstract: A rapidly increasing waiting list in a new National Health service district general hospital made it necessary to explore measures to reduce the length of hospital stay of gynecologic inpatients without lowering the standards of medical care. Three years of experience with patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy after January 1972 is described. During this time, 290 vaginal hysterectomies were performed and combined with pelvic floor repair in 194 cases. The average hospital stay for such patients was 12.7 days in 1971 before this study was commenced; since then this has been reduced progressively to 7.2 days with a corresponding increase in the number of such operations carried out annually. The effects of routine chemoprophylaxis and a modified technic of vault closure are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000667:Ampicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000379:methods; D007045:Hysterectomy, Vaginal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D007902:Length of Stay; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000209:etiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D002511:Cephalosporins; D000667:Ampicillin