title: Constipation does not develop following elective hysterectomy: a prospective, controlled study.
abstract: Although there have been reports that women develop constipation following hysterectomy, previous studies were either retrospective or uncontrolled. The aim of this prospective, controlled study was to assess whether constipation develops after elective hysterectomy. Women undergoing elective gynaecological surgery were compared to matched non-surgery controls at enrollment and 3 and 12 months after surgery. The subset of women who underwent elective hysterectomy was the study group for the present report. Fifty-eight of the 132 elective surgery patients underwent hysterectomy and were compared to 123 controls. There was no difference between the groups at any follow-up point in functional constipation (P = 1.0), frequency of stools (P = 0.92), stool consistency (P = 0.42), straining (P = 0.43), feeling of obstruction (P = 0.6) or need to manually evacuate stool (P = 1.0). Significantly, more hysterectomy patients without baseline pain did develop abdominal pain at 3 or 12 months than non-surgery controls (16.7% vs 3.6%, P = 0.008). We conclude that there was no significant change in bowel habit or stool characteristics in women undergoing hysterectomy even though many developed abdominal pain. This prospective, controlled study challenges existing data regarding the effect of hysterectomy on constipation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel. amy@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Sperber
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greemberg
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Bangdiwala
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sheiner
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rusabrov
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Freud
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neville
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Drossman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003248:Constipation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies