Complications of surgical treatment of cervical carcinoma

ABSTRACT

A total of 302 patients with stage Ib and IIa cervical carcinoma were submitted to radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy during the period from 1980 to 1994. The morbidity rate was 37.5 per cent and the mortality rate 0.6 per cent. The most common intraoperative complications were injuries to the great pelvic vessels and the most frequent posto erative complications involved the urinary tract. The leading causes of morbidity were urinary infection (20.8 per cent), bladder dysfunction (9.2 per cent) and ureteral fistulas (2.9 per cent). Although the rate of complications w high, morbidity has been decreasing over the last five years. Thus, radical hysterectomy continues to be one of the methods for the treatment of early cervical carcinoma that presents an acceptable 5-year survival rate.