Psychological distress of conservative and nonconservative uterine surgery - A prospective study

Objective: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the psychological reaction to conization before and after the operation compared to hysterectomy. To study the incidence of psychological stress related to conization, 60 women undergoing conization were compared to 40 women who had undergone hysterectomy. Method: Psychological disease was rated in the pre- and postoperative periods using the Symptom Questionnaire (SQ). Each patient was evaluated 2 weeks before the operation, and 3, 6 and 12 months after it. Results: Both the conization and hysterectomy groups showed a significant reduction in anxiety and depression at the 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-ups compared to the preoperative period. Two weeks before surgery, 8 conization patients (19.5%) showed an anxious status, while 10 (24.3%) presented high levels of anxiety and depression. Within hysterectomy patients, the occurrence was respectively of 4 (12.9%) and 10 women (32.2%). Twelve months after surgery, of the women with preoperative depression, only four (9.7%) conization and four (12.9%) hysterectomy patients presented a negative mood status. A similar trend was present for somatic symptoms but only in the conization group, because the hysterectomy patients did not show a reduction in these symptoms from the preoperative to the postoperative period. This result could be related to the surgical menopause due to the bilateral oophoriectomy executed in more than half of the hysterectomy group. Conclusion: In general, the results of the present study show that the conservative and nonconservative uterine surgery determines a good psychological prognosis in the short- and long-term postoperative periods. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.