Trends in Mode of Hysterectomy After the US Food and Drug Administration Power Morcellation Advisory

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the trends in mode of surgery for benign hysterectomy after the 2014 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) morcellation guidelines. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of all patients who underwent a hysterectomy for benign indications, specifically for leiomyomas, at Brigham and Women's Hospital from 2013 to 2015. The rates of abdominal, vaginal, laparoscopic, and robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy as well as the perioperative outcomes were compared over the study period. Analysis was performed using multi-variable linear, multinomial, and logistic regression. Regression models were adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: From 2013 to 2015, 1,530 patients underwent a hysterectomy for benign indications and 639 patients underwent the procedure for the indication of uterine leiomyomas; there was a decrease in the number of hysterectomy cases in the later years. Focusing on the patients with leiomyomas alone, there was a 40-60% decreased odds of a minimally invasive procedure in 2014 or 2015 compared with 2013 [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.53 (0.29-0.97) in 2014 and adjusted OR 0.40 (0.22-0.74) in 2015, P=.003]. A 24% decrease in the supracervical approach to hysterectomy was also noted. Despite these trends, the majority of cases in each year were still performed in a minimally invasive fashion. The factor most strongly associated with undergoing a minimally invasive hysterectomy was having a fellowship-trained surgeon perform the procedure [adjusted OR 6.80 (3.65-12.7), P<.001]. There was no significant difference between the year of surgery and occurrence of intraoperative complications or reoperation. CONCLUSION: Although key perioperative outcomes remained similar, the overall rate of minimally invasive surgery declined at our institution after the FDA's recommendations. With changing practice patterns and vigilance surrounding power morcellation, gynecologic surgeons may still offer patients minimally invasive procedures with all of the accompanying advantages.