Reducing Postoperative Bleeding After Hysterectomy Via Independent Closure of Vaginal Cuff Angles

Hysterectomy is the most common surgical procedure in the United States, with over 600,000 performed annually.1 There has been a dramatic improvement in expected postoperative course secondary to the advancement of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery.2 With the advent of laparoscopy and robotic surgery, even the most complex cases can be successfully performed via a minimally invasive approach. What used to be a major surgery that required a prolonged inpatient stay has become an outpatient procedure where patients are discharged home a few hours after the operation.3 Although the recovery period is shorter than in the past, there are still some postoperative complaints that are relatively common, and can impair quality of life. One of them is postoperative vaginal bleeding. Although this can be a sign of a more serious problem such as vaginal cuff dehiscence, the grand majority of times it is related to granulation tissue in the vaginal cuff that although may be self-limiting, can be bothersome and concerning to patients. Not only does this bleeding impair quality of life, but it's one of the most common reasons for emergency room visits after surgery. Multiple studies have shown that postoperative vaginal bleeding and return to the hospital significantly affect patient satisfaction. 4,5 Anecdotally, bleeding originates from granulation tissue at the angles of the closure, although there hasn't been any studies specifically investigating this. A common approach to laparoscopic cuff closure involves a running barbed suture, with or without separate closure of the lateral angles.6,7 Recently, laparoscopic closure of the vaginal cuff was found to be superior when compared to vaginal closure in terms of vaginal cuff dehiscence8. This RCT also evaluated vaginal cuff bleeding as a secondary outcome, but this was recorded as he presence of bleeding at 3 months after surgery. The closure technique in this study was a running non-barbed suture, without independent suturing of the angles. Although a running suture placed laparoscopically may provide adequate tensile strength throughout the cuff to promote healing, the tension at the corners may be less than at the center when using barbed suture, hence potentially increasing the risk of bleeding. Furthermore, the second angle may be more difficult to access when the remainder of the cuff is re-approximated.

The investigators propose prospectively evaluating if adding separate sutures to the angles of the vaginal cuff before running barbed suture reduces the incidence of patient's perception of bleeding after surgery.