An Audit of Indications for Hysterectomy in a District Hospital, Madikeri

Abstract

Introduction: Hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus and is the most common gynaecological operation done in females worldwide. In the early 20th century, hysterectomies were done for many conditions like leiomyoma, Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding (DUB), chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis, adenomyosis, prolapse, and malignancies. Considering that the procedure has a 20-35% life risk, it calls for a thorough justification before consideration. A hysterectomy has mental, physical, social, economic and psychosexual impact, apart from intraoperative and postoperative complications. Thus, an audit on hysterectomies was done to help students, medical fraternity, and the women of Kodagu in having a better understanding of hysterectomies. Aim: To conduct an audit on hysterectomies performed for gynaecological indications to correlate pre-operative diagnosis with the histopathological diagnosis. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study which included all elective hysterectomies performed for gynaecological indications conducted at the District Hospital of Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences, Madikeri from January 2018-June 2019. All cases of hysterectomies were considered except Caesarean peripartal hysterectomies. The histopathological findings of the endometrium, myometrium, cervix, ovaries and fallopian tubes were recorded. Findings were tabulated as frequency and percentage. Then, using the data, preoperative indications were compared with postoperative histopathological findings to know if hysterectomy was justified. Results: A total of 238 hysterectomies were performed during 18 months in the District Hospital. Abdominal and vaginal approaches were used. Panhysterectomy via abdominal approach was the most common type of hysterectomy. The most common age group where hysterectomy occurred was 41-60 years. The most common indication for hysterectomy was found to be Fibroid uterus. Analysis of the myometrial findings revealed that the most common finding was leiomyoma. Majority of ovaries and fallopian tubes did not show significant pathology. Conclusion: Panhysterectomy was the most common type of hysterectomy. Fibroid were the most common histopathological findings and medium and small sized fibroids can be given a trial of nonsurgical management. Injudicious use of hysterectomy procedure has multiple loop holes involving medical fraternity, socioeconomic conditions of women and attitude of society towards female reproductive health.