Perioperative Interventions to Minimize Blood Loss at the Time of Hysterectomy for Uterine Leiomyomas: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Study objective: Hysterectomy for uterine leiomyoma(s) is associated with significant morbidity including blood loss. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to identify nonhormonal interventions, perioperative surgical interventions, and devices to minimize blood loss at the time of hysterectomy for leiomyoma.

Data sources: Librarian-led search of Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane databases from 1946 to 2018 with hand-guided updates.

Methods of study selection: Included studies reported on keywords of hysterectomy, leiomyoma, and operative blood loss/postoperative hemorrhage/uterine bleeding/metrorrhagia/hematoma. The review excluded a comparison of route of hysterectomy, morcellation, vaginal cuff closure, hormonal medications, vessel sealing devices for vaginal hysterectomy, and case series with <10 patients.

Tabulation, integration, and results: Surgical blood loss, postoperative hemoglobin (Hb) drop, hemorrhage, transfusion, and major and minor complications were analyzed and aggregated in meta-analyses for comparable studies in each category. A total of 2016 unique studies were identified, 33 of which met the inclusion criteria, and 22 were used for quantitative synthesis. The perioperative use of misoprostol in abdominal hysterectomy (AH) was associated with a lower postoperative Hb drop (0.59 g/dL; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39-0.79; p < .01) and blood loss (-96.43 mL; 95% CI, -153.52 to -39.34; p < .01) compared with placebo. Securing the uterine vessels at their origin in laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) was associated with decreased intraoperative blood loss (-69.07 mL; 95% CI, -135.20 to -2.95; p = .04) but no significant change in postoperative Hb (0.24 g/dL; 95% CI, -0.31 to 0.78; p = .39) compared with securing them by the uterine isthmus. Uterine artery ligation in LH before dissecting the ovarian/utero-ovarian vessels was associated with lower surgical blood loss compared with standard ligation (-27.72 mL; 95% CI, -35.07 to -20.38; p < .01). The postoperative Hb drop was not significantly different with a bipolar electrosurgical device versus suturing in AH (0.26 g/dL; 95% CI, -0.19 to 0.71; p = .26). There was no significant difference between an electrosurgical bipolar vessel sealer (EBVS) and conventional bipolar electrosurgical devices in the Hb drop (0.02 g/dL; 95% CI, -0.15 to 0.20; p = .79) or blood loss (-50.88 mL; 95% CI, -106.44 to 4.68; p = .07) in LH. Blood loss in LH was not decreased with the LigaSure (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) impedance monitoring EBVS compared with competing EBVS systems monitoring impedance or temperature (2.00 mL; 95% CI, -8.09 to 12.09; p = .70). No significant differences in hemorrhage, transfusion, or major complications were noted for all interventions.

Conclusion: Perioperative misoprostol in AH led to a reduction in surgical blood loss and postoperative Hb drop (moderate level of evidence by Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines) although the clinical benefit is likely limited. Remaining interventions, although promising, had at best low-quality evidence to support their use at this time. Larger and rigorously designed randomized trials are needed to establish the optimal set of perioperative interventions for use in hysterectomy for leiomyomas.

Keywords: Blood loss; Gynecologic surgery; Hysterectomy; Meta-analysis; Nonhormonal; Perioperative medications; Perioperative techniques; Surgical approach; Surgical devices; Systematic review; Uterine leiomyoma.