Incidence Rates of Myomectomy-Related Mortality and Venous Thromboembolism in South Korea: A Population-Based Study

Purpose: Uterine leiomyomas are the most commonly observed pathologies, with an estimated prevalence of 4.5–68.6%. We aimed to calculate the post-myomectomy mortality rates in the Republic of Korea. Methods The data of patients who underwent myomectomy (2009–2018) were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Inpatient Sample. The mortality rate after myomectomy was calculated using the leiomyoma diagnostic codes and myomectomy procedure codes. Results The data of 23,549 women who underwent myomectomy among 3,307,214 women aged 15–55 years were extracted. The rate of myomectomy was 14.6 ± 0.1 per 10,000 patients. The average age was 39.39 ± 0.04 years. One patient who underwent myomectomy died; this patient did not have concomitant venous thromboembolism (VTE). The post-myomectomy mortality rate was 1.3 ± 0.8 per 10,000 patients. The incidence rates of VTE, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism after myomectomy were 5.7 ± 1.6 per 10,000 patients, 4.4 ± 1.4 per 10,000 patients, and 2.5 ± 1 per 10,000 patients, respectively. The conversion rate to hysterectomy was 2.9 ± 1.1 per 10,000 patients. Conclusion The current mortality rate after myomectomy (0.013%) is substantially lower than that described in previous studies at the turn of the 20th century.