Hysterectomy in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers

Frances M. Weaver, Denise M. Hynes, Jeffrey M. Goldberg, Shukri F. Khuri, Jennifer Daley, William G. Henderson
In: Obstetrics & Gynecology · 2001 · vol. 97(6) , pp. 880–884 · doi:10.1097/00006250-200106000-00003 · W4214670767
article OA: closed CC0
View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-12 ⓘ

This study examined hysterectomies in VA Medical Centers from 1991-1997, finding uterine leiomyomas and abnormal bleeding as primary indications and low overall complication rates.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

In Brief Objective To examine the indications and surgical morbidity for women veterans who underwent hysterectomies in Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAs). Methods Data on hysterectomies performed in VAs from 1991 to 1997 were abstracted from a surgical quality improvement program. Results Records of 1722 women who had hysterectomies in VAs over 6 years were examined. Women were predominately white (62%) and their average age was 42.5 years. Operations included abdominal (74%), vaginal (22%), and laparoscopic-assisted (4%) methods. The most common indications for surgery included uterine leiomyomas (31%), abnormal uterine bleeding (14%), and endometriosis (11%). Indications differed by race (P < .01); nonwhite women were most likely to have surgery for leiomyoma (51%), whereas white women had hysterectomies for leiomyomas (19%), abnormal bleeding (15%), endometriosis (13%), and genital prolapse (11%). The mean postoperative stay was significantly longer for abdominal hysterectomies (4.51 days) than either vaginal or laparoscopic-assisted hysterectomies (2.92 and 2.21 days, respectively; P < .001). The overall complication rate within 30 days was 9%, and the most frequent complication was urinary tract infection (3.3%). Conclusion Women who underwent hysterectomies in VAs had low complication rates, comparable to hysterectomy complication rates in the United States generally. Women undergoing hysterectomy in Department of Veterans Affairs Hospitals have low complication rates.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (2)

References (14)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-09-02T07:26:43.000666+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK