Keyhole Surgery Shows Quality Of Life Benefits For Women With Early Endometrial Cancer

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 18 Oct 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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Women who have laparoscopic surgery for early stage endometrial cancer have a shorter hospital stay, less pain and faster recovery within the first six weeks after surgery, according to preliminary results of a comparative study of laparoscopic and open surgery, reported by Dr Claudia Bijen, at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia.

Dr Bijen, from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, presented data from 185 women with early endometrial cancer who underwent laparoscopic surgery and 94 who had open surgery. While there was no significant difference in major complications between patients in the two groups, those undergoing laparoscopic surgery had significantly better quality of life scores six weeks after surgery, less pain and were able to return to work more quickly than those who had open procedures.

Dr Bijen stressed that the study design ensured that laparoscopic surgery was carried out by skilled surgeons - something which would be important if the laparoscopic technique is taken up more generally in clinical practice.

Source
European Society of Gynaecological Oncology

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