A Decade Of Hysterectomy In ATertiary Hospital In Urban Niger-delta Region Of Nigeria

Abstract

Hysterectomy is a very common gynaecological procedure which has a significant place in optimizing the reproductive health outcomes ofwomen.
To document the indications the type of hysterectomy commonly performed, the difficulties
encountered and complications of the procedure at theCentralHospital,BeninCity.
This was a retrospective review of the service delivery records of patients that had
hysterectomy in the gynaecological unit between January, 1994 andDecember, 2003.
There were 1216 major gynaecological operations during the study period. Of these, 131 (10.8%) hysterectomies were done. Total abdominal hysterectomy accounted for 80.4% of the procedures performed and most were done by consultants (94.4%). The mean age of the patients was 45.7 years with a median of 46years and theywere commonly grandmultiparous (71.0%).The commonest indication for the procedurewas symptomatic uterine fibroid (62.3%) followed by urogenital prolapse (13.1%). The crude morbidity rate was 30.3%and themortality ratewas 1.6%. Hysterectomy in this centre is a fairly safe procedure. There is paucity of skills for vaginal and radical procedures. Training is advocated with a view to reducing the presently high morbidity rate as well as achieving our aimof optimizing the reproductive health outcomes of ourwomen.

Keywords: Decade,Hysterectomy,Tertiary Hospital,Urban Nigeria

Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol. 11 (4) 2008: pp. 359-363