Prevention of lymphocyst formation following systematic lymphadenectomy.
BACKGROUND
The occurrence of pelvic lymphocysts is an important complication following systematic lymphadenectomy for gynecological malignancies. We employed a procedure to prevent vaginal shortening following radical hysterectomy and we examined whether this procedure could be effective in preventing pelvic lymphocyst formation.


METHODS
We studied the incidence of lymphocysts in 190 patients with 84 cervical cancers, 74 endometrial cancers and 32 ovarian cancers, using computed tomographic examination at 3 and 6 months subsequent to the surgery. The surgery included radical hysterectomy and a procedure to prevent vaginal shortening (101), modified radical hysterectomy (79) and simple hysterectomy (7), with systematic lymphadenectomy.


RESULTS
There was a significant difference in the incidence of pelvic lymphocysts between cervical cancer (4.8%) and ovarian cancer (18.8%). The postoperative incidence of lymphocyst formation in patients undergoing radical hysterectomy with the procedure to prevent vaginal shortening (5.9%) was significantly lower than in those who underwent modified radical hysterectomy (15.2%).


CONCLUSIONS
Our procedure to prevent vaginal shortening could be effective in preventing not only the shortening of the vagina but also the occurrence of pelvic lymphocysts in patients undergoing radical hysterectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy for gynecological malignancies.
Yamamoto
R
R
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. tellme33@netfarm.ne.jp
Saitoh
T
T
Kusaka
T
T
Todo
Y
Y
Takeda
M
M
Okamoto
K
K
Nomura
E
E
Ebina
Y
Y
Kaneuchi
M
M
Sakuragi
N
N
Fujimoto
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008210:Lymphocele / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*