Vaginal Hysterectomy Suturing Skills Training Model and Curriculum.

BACKGROUND: Declining vaginal hysterectomy numbers in obstetrics and gynecology training programs highlights the need for innovative methods to teach vaginal surgical skills. We describe our experience with a vaginal hysterectomy skills simulation curriculum. INSTRUMENT: A low-fidelity bench model was constructed to simulate four vaginal hysterectomy suturing tasks. A polyvinyl chloride downspout adapter and low-cost materials simulate the Heaney pedicle stitch, simple pedicle stitch, double ligature, and continuous running stitch. EXPERIENCE: Faculty expert vaginal surgeons established proficiency levels for each task. Resident (N=30) pass rates for tasks 1, 2, and 3 were 1 of 30 (3.3%), 7 of 30 (23.3%), and 4 of 30 (13.3%), respectively, for the left side, and 3 of 30 (10%), 9 of 30 (30%), and 10 of 30 (33.3%), respectively, for the right side. For task 4, the pass rate was 14 of 30 (46.7%). The majority of residents felt that the model simulates the technical skills required for vaginal hysterectomy and agreed that vaginal skills laboratory training would improve their ability to perform procedures in the operating room. Ninety-two percent of residents felt that a vaginal surgery skills curriculum would be a useful addition to their simulation education. CONCLUSION: A proficiency-based vaginal hysterectomy skills simulation curriculum using a low-fidelity model may be an important training and evaluation tool for vaginal surgical skills training.

Distance From Cervicovaginal Junction to Anterior Peritoneal Reflection Measured During Vaginal Hysterectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the distance of the dissection plane from the cervicovaginal junction to the anterior peritoneal reflection for vaginal hysterectomy. METHODS: This is a descriptive study examining the dissection plane for anterior colpotomy in 22 surgical patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy and in nine cadaver specimens. Intraoperatively, the distance from the vaginal incision to the anterior peritoneal reflection was measured on the uterus after removal. In nine of these patients, this distance was also measured before anterior peritoneal incision. Embalmed cadavers with intact pelvic viscera were dissected and the distance of the same dissection plane was measured. RESULTS: Median (interquartile range) surgical patient age was 51.5 (42-63) years and the main surgical indications were abnormal uterine bleeding and pelvic organ prolapse. In these patients, the median (interquartile range) distance from cervicovaginal incision to anterior peritoneal reflection was 3.4 (2.6-3.7) cm. In cadavers, the median (interquartile range) age was 81 (72-86) years with a measured distance of 2.7 (2.4-2.9) cm. CONCLUSION: When performing a vaginal hysterectomy, surgeons can expect a median (range) dissection distance of 3.4 (1.8-4.6) cm from initial incision to the peritoneal reflection for anterior colpotomy.

Safety of Manual Morcellation After Vaginal or Laparoscopic-assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy.

UNLABELLED: STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety of manual vaginal morcellation by evaluating the rates of incidental uterine malignancy and manual vaginal morcellation after vaginal or laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). SETTING: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. PATIENTS: Women (n = 1,629) undergoing vaginal or laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy. INTERVENTIONS: Vaginal hysterectomy (n = 1,091) or laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (n = 538) with and without scalpel morcellation. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The number of uterine malignancies, rate of vaginal morcellation, surgical indications, pathology diagnoses, and uterine weights were evaluated. Chi-square analysis was used to compare categoric data, and analysis of variance was used to compare uterine weights. There were no cases of leiomyosarcomas. There were 2 other sarcomas, 4 smooth muscle tumors of uncertain malignant potential, and 8 endometrial adenocarcinomas. The vaginal morcellation rate was 19.4%, but no malignancy was morcellated. Myomas were more common preoperatively and histologically in morcellated specimens. Mean (± standard deviation) uterine weights for morcellated versus nonmorcellated laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy specimens were 285.5 ± 159.3 versus 140.1 ± 83.6 g (p < .001), respectively, and 199.9 ± 92.8 versus 111.9 ± 61.4 (p < .001), respectively, for vaginal hysterectomy. CONCLUSION: Vaginal manual morcellation is safe with a low risk of incidental malignancy. Variables that influence the decision for the vaginal approach may also affect malignancy risk and morcellation decisions. Thus, all patients undergoing vaginal or laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy should be counseled regarding incidental malignancy, risk of morcellation, and alternatives for intact specimen removal.

Mechanical performance of surgical knots in a vaginal surgery model.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the integrity of 3 different types of sliding knots in a vaginal surgery model. STUDY DESIGN: Nonidentical sliding (NS), loop-to-strand sliding (LTS), and parallel sliding (PS) knots with 4 throws each were tied on a vaginal surgery model with 0 polyglactin-910 and tested until failure. The main outcomes studied were the maximum load reached at failure and the proportion of each type of sliding knot that either unraveled or broke during standardized laboratory testing. RESULTS: PS knots were significantly stronger than either NS or LTS knots, with no difference in strength between NS and LTS knots. Most of the NS and LTS knots failed by slippage, where as most of the PS knots failed by rupture at the knot site. CONCLUSIONS: PS knots using 0-vicryl are significantly stronger than NS and LTS knots and should be preferentially considered when performing vaginal surgery.