LAS VEGAS – When stage IV endometriosis with obliterated posterior cul-de-sac is discovered during laparoscopic hysterectomy, or suspected beforehand, women should be referred to a minimally invasive gynecologic surgery specialist because the procedure will be much more difficult, investigators said at the meeting sponsored by AAGL.
M. Alexander Otto/MDedge News
Dr. Alexandra Melnyk
They reviewed 333 laparoscopic hysterectomies where endometriosis was discovered in the operating room. The disease is known to increase the complexity of hysterectomy; the investigators wanted to quantify the risk by endometriosis severity. Among their subjects, 237 women (71%) had stage I, II, or III endometriosis; 96 (29%) had stage IV disease, including 55 women (57%) with obliterated posterior cul-de-sacs.
Surgery was longer among stage IV cases (137 vs. 116 minutes), and there was greater blood loss; 66% of stage IV women required laparoscopic-modified radical hysterectomy versus about a quarter of women with stage I-III endometriosis.
A total of 93% required modified radical hysterectomies versus 29% of stage IV women with intact cul-de-sacs. Additional procedures were far more likely in this population, including salpingectomy, ureterolysis, enterolysis, cystoscopy, ureteral stenting, proctoscopy, bowel oversew, and anterior resection anastomosis. The differences all were statistically significant.
Among stage IV cases, mean operating time was longer in obliterated cul-de-sac cases (159 vs. 108 minutes), with higher blood loss, 100 mL versus 50 mL.
“Patients with obliterated cul-de-sacs identified intraoperatively should be referred to minimally invasive gynecologic surgeons because of the ... extra training required to safely perform [laparoscopic hysterectomy] with limited morbidity,” said lead investigator Alexandra Melnyk, MD, a University of Pittsburgh ob.gyn resident.
There was no industry funding and the investigators reported no disclosures.
SOURCE: Melnyk A et al. 2018 AAGL Global Congress, Abstract 81.