Comparison between personal learning curves for abdominal and laparoscopic hysterectomy

Background. To compare personal learning curves for abdominal and laparoscopic hysterectomy. Methods. The first 200 patients scheduled for abdominal hysterectomy and the first 200 patients scheduled for laparoscopic hysterectomy by a single operator were compared using learning curves according to operation time, operative blood loss, and occurrence of complications. Results. Learning curves for both types of hysterectomy were rather similiar, but the learning of the laparoscopic procedure seemed to be quicker. With increasing experience the operating time decreased by 25% in abdominal and by 41% in laparoscopic hysterectomies. The mean operating time in abdominal hysterectomy was 74 min and 70 min in laparoscopic hysterectomy. Operative blood loss decreased by 50% and 44%, respectively. The mean operative blood loss was smaller (203 vs 295 ml, p<0.0001) in laparoscopic hysterectomy. Increased experience had no effect on complication rates in abdominal hysterectomies, but a decrease of 44% was seen in laparoscopic hysterectomies (p<0.05). The overall complication rate (26% vs 22%) were similar for the two techniques, and only a few patients (1.5% vs 1%) had major (bladder or ureteric) complications. Conclusions. A trained gynecologist can learn the laparoscopic technique for hysterectomy at least as quickly as the abdominal technique.