Article ID: JNMS.2021_88-503
Background
Radical hysterectomy (RH) is a type of radical surgery performed for cervical cancer. Urinary dysfunction due to RH exacerbates the postoperative quality of life of cervical cancer patients. The nerve-sparing RH (NSRH) technique has been used as an effective measure to conserve urinary function. However, few reports have been published on the long-term prognosis. This study described performance of our nerve-sparing technique and the long-term prognosis of patients.
Methods
Sixty-one patients underwent radical hysterectomy in a 5-year period during which the nerve-sparing technique was introduced; of these, 31 patients underwent NSRH and 30 underwent conventional RH. We retrospectively examined the medical records and compared postoperative urinary function and treatment outcome between the two groups.
Results
The median time required for urinary residual volume to fall to ≤50 ml after removal of the urinary catheter was 6 days (range, 2–20 days) in the NSRH group and 13.5 days (range, 3–46 days) in the RH group. The results were significantly better in the NSRH group (p < 0.05). The mean follow-up period was 2,456.3 days (range, 48–4,213 days). Investigations on curability revealed no significant difference between the two groups in local recurrence and long-term survival rates. The 5-year survival rate was 0.861 in the NSRH group and 0.782 in the RH group; the 10-year survival rate was 0.861 in the NSRH group and 0.679 in the RH group.
Conclusions
Surgical procedures for NSRH significantly improved postoperative urinary function without deteriorating local recurrence rates and long-term prognosis.
