Salpingectomy at the Time of Cesarean Delivery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: To compare the differences in operative time and surgical outcomes between salpingectomy and standard tubal interruption at the time of cesarean delivery.

Data Sources: PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from inception until July 2019 for articles reporting outcomes for women undergoing salpingectomy during cesarean delivery compared with women undergoing standard sterilization methods.

Methods Of Study Selection: Studies were selected if they included the main outcome of operative time or additional outcomes, which included infection, transfusion, readmission, change in hematocrit, and estimated blood loss. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment scale or Cochrane Handbook were used to assess quality of cohort and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), respectively. A random-effects model was employed to calculate pooled relative risk or weighted mean difference for each outcome with their 95% CI. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I statistic, and L'Abbé plots were inspected visually to assess for homogeneity.

Tabulation, Integration, And Results: We identified 11 studies comprising 320,443 women undergoing total salpingectomy or standard sterilization methods at the time of cesarean delivery. Three RCTs and eight retrospective cohort studies were investigated separately by meta-analysis. When compared with standard sterilization methods, total operative time for patients receiving salpingectomy was significantly longer (6.3 minutes, 95% CI 3.5-9.1, seven studies, 7,303 patients) for cohort studies. With the three RCTs of 163 patients, total operative time was not significantly increased in women receiving salpingectomy (8.1 minutes, 95% CI -4.4 to 20.7). The salpingectomy group did not have an increased risk of wound infection, transfusion, readmission, reoperation, internal organ damage, blood loss, change in hemoglobin, or length of stay when compared with standard sterilization methods.

Conclusion: Salpingectomy at the time of cesarean delivery was associated with a small increase in operative time; however, it was not associated with an increased rate of surgical complications. This option should be considered for patients desiring sterilization during cesarean delivery.

Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO, CRD42019145247.