Objective To compare hysterectomy by transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) versus total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) as a day-care procedure.Design Parallel group, 1:1 randomised single-centre single-blinded trial, designed as a non-inferiority study with a margin of 15%.Setting Belgian teaching hospital.Population Women aged 18-70 years scheduled to undergo hysterectomy for benign indications.Methods Randomisation to TLH (control group) or vNOTES (experimental group). Stratification according to uterine volume. Blinding of participants and outcome assessors.Main outcome measures The primary outcome was hysterectomy by the allocated technique. We measured the proportion of women leaving within 12 hours after hysterectomy and the length of hospital stay as secondary outcomes. Results We randomly assigned 70 women to vNOTES (n = 35) or TLH (n = 35). The primary endpoint was always reached in both groups: there were no conversions. We performed a sensitivity analysis for the primary outcome, assuming one conversion in the vNOTES group and no conversions in the TLH group: the onesided 95% upper limit for the differences in proportions of conversion was estimated as 7.5%, which is below the predefined non-inferiority margin. More women left the hospital within 12 hours after surgery after vNOTES: 77 versus 43%, difference 34% (95% CI 13-56%), P = 0.007. The hospital stay was shorter after vNOTES: 0.8 versus 1.3 days, mean difference À0.5 days, (95% CI À0.98 to À0.02), P = 0.004.Conclusions vNOTES is non-inferior to TLH for successfully performing hysterectomy without conversion. Compared with TLH, vNOTES may allow more women to be treated in a day-care setting.Keywords Core outcome set, day-care surgery, laparoscopic hysterectomy, randomised controlled trial, vNOTES.Tweetable abstract RCT: vNOTES is just as good as laparoscopy for successful hysterectomy without conversion but allows more day-care surgery.Please cite this paper as: Baekelandt JF, De Mulder PA, Le Roy I, Mathieu C, Laenen A, Enzlin P, Weyers S, Mol BWJ, Bosteels JJA. Hysterectomy by transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery versus laparoscopy as a day-care procedure: a randomised controlled trial. BJOG 2019;126:105-113.

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(1) Objective: We aimed to report an update of the systematic review and meta-analysis by Baekelandt et al. (2016). (2) Method: We followed PRISMA guidelines to perform this systematic review. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and additional sources and aimed to retrieve randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs) and prospective/retrospective cohort studies in human subjects that allowed direct comparison of vNOTES to laparoscopy. (3) Results: Our search yielded one RCT and five retrospective cohort trials. Pooled analysis of two subgroups showed that, compared to conventional laparoscopy, vNOTES is equally effective to successfully remove the uterus in individuals meeting the inclusion criteria. vNOTES had significantly lower values for operation time, length of stay and estimated blood loss. There was no significant difference in intra- and postoperative complications, readmission, pain scores at 24 h postoperative and change in hemoglobin (Hb) on day 1 postoperative.

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