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Abstract: Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the intraoperative and short-term postoperative complications of laparoscopic hysterectomy and total abdominal hysterectomy. Study design: Retrospective study of 167 women who had laparoscopic hysterectomy and 119 women who had total abdominal hysterectomy. For assessing the learning curve, the laparoscopic hysterectomies were further subdivided to the first 30 hysterectomies and the later hysterectomies. For data analysis Student''s t-test, χ 2-test and Fisher''s exact test were used. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for age, body mass index, previous abdominal surgery, uterine weight, first postoperative day hemoglobin drop, blood transfusion and major or minor complications rate. Operation time was significantly longer for laparoscopic than abdominal hysterectomy (156±40 and 91.2±33min, respectively; P <0.001) but the length of hospital stay was significantly shorter (3.9 and 6.55 days, respectively; P <0.001). The conversion rate of laparoscopic hysterectomy was 1.8% (three cases). Conclusions: Laparoscopic hysterectomy can be safely done even during the learning curve with a low and reasonable complication rate, and a shorter hospital stay but with longer operation time. As experience is gained the operation time, complication rate and hospital stay are decreased. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: To determine the pre-malignant and malignant potential of endometrial polyps and to assess whether different clinical parameters are associated with malignancy in the polyps. Study design: Four hundred and thirty consecutive cases of hysteroscopic diagnosis of endometrial polyp were retrieved. The medical records, preoperative vaginal sonography results and histopathology findings were reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed. Results: Hysteroscopy truly identified endometrial polyps in 95.7% of the cases. In 11.4% cases, hyperplasia without atypia was found in the endometrial polyp. In 3.3 and 3.0% of women pre-malignant or malignant conditions were found in the polyp. Older age, menopause status and polyps larger than 1.5 cm were associated with significant pre-malignant or malignant changes, although the positive predictive value for malignancy was low. All the malignant polyps were diagnosed only in postmenopausal women. The presence of postmenopausal or irregular vaginal bleeding, was not a predictor of malignancy in the polyp. Conclusions: Postmenopausal women with endometrial polyps are at increased risk of malignancy in the polyp. Those patients, whether symptomatic or not should be evaluated by hysteroscopic resection of the polyps. Asymptomatic premenopausal patients with polyps smaller than 1.5 cm can be observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: To examine the effect of uterosacral–cardinal ligament complex stretching prior to vaginal hysterectomy on uterine descent. Study design: A prospective trial of 25 consecutive women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy. Pre-operative, apical, anterior and posterior wall POP-Q measurements were recorded for each patient before and after uterosacral–cardinal ligament complex stretching during general anesthesia. Results: Uterosacral–cardinal ligament complex stretching yielded a significant increase in mean stage of uterine and anterior wall descent (2.6±0.6 vs. 3.2±0.6cm, p <0.001, and 2.5±0.8 vs. 2.9±0.8cm, respectively, p <0.004). There was no significant change in posterior wall prolapse measurements (1.3±0.7 vs. 1.4±0.8cm, p =0.05). Conclusion: Uterosacral–cardinal ligament complex stretching prior to vaginal hysterectomy increase uterine descent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]