Vaginal radical hysterectomy in early stage cervical cancer.

Objectives: The goal is to communicate the perioperative and oncological results of a single surgical team after Assisted Vaginal Radical Hysterectomy (a-VRH) for early-stage cervical cancer. We also compared these results with a control group of patients who underwent Abdominal Radical Hysterectomy (ARH) during the same period at the same center. Methods: From April 2008 to November 2018, patients with early-stage cervical cancer (FIGO 1A2, 1B1, 1B2 and 2A1) were prospectively recruited to undergo surgical intervention through Radical Hysterectomy Assisted by Videolaparoscopy with Laparoscopic Systematic Pelvic Lymphadenectomy at Gustavo Fricke Hospital in Viña del Mar, Chile. This group of patients has been registered and followed up to date, analyzing epidemiological, surgical, pathological factors, and survival. We present perioperative and oncological results, along with a comparison to a similar consecutive series of 97 patients undergoing Radical Abdominal Hysterectomy (ARH) during the same period at the same center. Results: Overall survival and disease-free survival in a-VRH are not inferior to those in ARH. Complications were observed in a greater proportion in ARH (16.4 % vs. 22.7 %). The hospital stay was 3.6 days for a-VRH and 6 days for ARH. Fewer transfusions were administered in the a-VRH group. Conclusion: We believe that assisted a-VRH is a very good alternative for the surgical treatment of early-stage cervical cancer, as in this series of patients, the cancer outcomes are at least similar to those of ARH, allowing for the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.