Postoperative pain after laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomy for benign gynecologic disease: a randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE:

To compare postoperative pain after laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomy for benign disease.

STUDY DESIGN:

A prospective randomized trial was designed to compare laparoscopic hysterectomy and vaginal hysterectomy in patients with uterine volume
RESULTS:

A total of 82 patients were enrolled. Patients who underwent vaginal hysterectomy complained of higher postoperative pain at each VAS evaluation (VAS-1 hour, P < .0001; VAS-3 hour, P < .0001; VAS-8 hour, P < .0001; VAS-24 hour, P = .0003) with a higher need for rescue analgesia (P < .0001) and a longer hospitalization (P = .001). The other perioperative characteristics were comparable between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSION:

Laparoscopic hysterectomy provides an advantage over vaginal hysterectomy in terms of postoperative pain, need for rescue analgesia and hospital stay, with similar perioperative outcomes.