Vaginal hysterectomy in a Nigerian tertiary health facility.

Background: Despite evidence that vaginal hysterectomy offers advantages in regard to operative time, complication rates and return to normal activities, gynaecologists remain reluctant to change their practice patterns because of concerns about safety and feasibility of the vaginal approach. We reviewed cases of vaginal hysterectomies done in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Nigeria over a ten year period.

Method: This is a retrospective analysis of cases of vaginal hysterectomy that were done in the hospital between 1st January 1998 and 31st December 2007. Data was analyzed with Epi info version 3.3.2. Outcome measures include duration of hospital stay, indication for the surgery, postoperative morbidity and mortality and the need for blood transfusion.

Result: Hysterectomy accounted for 224 of 1,370 gynaecological surgeries (16.4%). Vaginal hysterectomy was responsible for 47 (21.0%) of these 224 cases and accounted for 3.7% of all gynaecological surgeries. Majority of the patients were in the 7th decade of life with a mean age of 65.2 +/- 6.8. Most (87.5%) patients were retired farmers and grandmultiparous with a mean parity 6.5 +/- 2.4). Utero-vaginal prolapse was the only indication for the surgery. The only postoperative complication accounted was febrile morbidity which was reported in 5 (10.6%) of the patients had febrile morbidity. There were no cases of conversion to abdominal procedure. All the surgeries were done by the consultants.

Conclusion: Vaginal hysterectomy was safe and associated with minimal morbidity to the patient. The only indication was uterovaginal prolapse and all the procedures were done by the consultants. There is need to transfer the skill to the Residents.