Hysterectomy in obese women: A comparison of abdominal and vaginal routes

To compare perioperative outcome measures of abdominal and vaginal hysterectomies in obese women. We reviewed the charts of all obese women (body mass index more than 30 kg/m(2)) who underwent abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy for benign gynecologic conditions in our institution between 1997 and 2002. Laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies and hysterectomies with concomitant major pelvic or abdominal surgery were excluded. The rate of operative and postoperative complications, length of hospitalization, operative time, and perioperative change of hemoglobin concentration were analyzed for abdominal hysterectomy and vaginal hysterectomy. The study group consisted of 369 obese women, of whom 189 (51.2%) underwent abdominal, and 180 (48.8%), vaginal hysterectomy. Patient characteristics were statistically comparable between the groups except for uterine weight, which was higher in the abdominal group, and parity, which was greater for women who underwent vaginal hysterectomy (P