Multiple diagnoses and procedures during hysterectomy.

Seldom does a gynecologic patient, who needs a hysterectomy, have a single diagnosis. Among 2892 gynecologic patients who needed a hysterectomy, only 127 had a single diagnosis. The rest had two to ten separate diagnoses. Therefore, 96.4% also needed other gynecologic procedures at the time of hysterectomy--4842 other operative procedures during 1925 abdominal hysterectomies, and 2356 associated operative procedures during 864 vaginal hysterectomies. Prior to the time of hysterectomy, 15.07% of these patients had had major gynecologic operations, but after hysterectomy (+ +) only 2.9% needed any subsequent gynecologic operations. We conclude that among gynecologic patients, chart reviews or coding systems which are based only on a single diagnosis, or computer systems which are limited to 2, 3, or 4 diagnoses, will usually be incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading.