title: Vaginal hysterectomy: technique and results in the last twenty years.
abstract: The objective of this work was to describe patient characteristics and the effect of vaginal hysterectomy in a University hospital in the last two decades. A retrospective review of women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy was performed. The type of hysterectomy and complications were determined. From 1974 to 1994, a total of 6420 hysterectomies were performed. The vaginal route was used for 1530 patients. In the last decade, the Heaney method was used. A comparison of the periods 1974-1984 and 1984-1994 revealed that with the Heaney technique, we had significantly fewer complications, including less febrile morbidity, bleeding requiring transfusion, and injuries. Vaginal hysterectomy, specially using the Heaney method, is a rewarding challenge for any gynecologic surgeon. There are a low postoperative morbidity rate and a low mortality rate, which is well below the average mortality rate associated with abdominal hysterectomy.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kalogirou
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antoniou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zioris
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fotopoulos
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Karakitsos
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007045:Hysterectomy, Vaginal / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome