Ovarian Suspension With Adjustable Sutures: An Easy and Helpful Technique for Facilitating Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Gynecologic Surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To describe a method of ovarian suspension with adjustable sutures (OSAS) for facilitating laparoendoscopic single-site gynecologic surgery (LESS) and to investigate the effect of OSAS on LESS.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification: II-2).

SETTING

University teaching hospital.

PATIENTS

One hundred seventy-eight patients with benign 5- to 15-cm cystic ovarian tumors who underwent LESS with OSAS (suspension group, n = 90) and without OSAS (control group, n = 88).

INTERVENTIONS

For patients who underwent OSAS (suspension group), 1 end of double-head straight needles with a polypropylene suture was inserted into the pelvic cavity through the abdominal skin to penetrate the cyst or ovarian parenchyma and puncture outside the abdominal skin. After cutting off the needles, both sides of the remaining suture were held together by a clamp, without knotting, so that the manipulator could "lift," "loosen," or "fix" the stitches to adjust the tension.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The average time to create OSAS was 2.9 min. For the suspension and control groups, the average blood loss was 81.4 and 131.8 mL (p < .001), and the operative time was 42.0 and 61.3 min (p < .001), respectively. There were no significant differences in the incidence of complications (5.6% vs 9.1%; p = .365), but there were significant differences in conversions to standard non-single-site laparoscopy (5.6% vs 15.9%; p = .025) and laparotomy (1.1% vs 6.8%; p = .040). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the ratios of conversion to standard non-single-site laparoscopy (odds ratio [OR], 0.126; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.311-0.508) and laparotomy (OR, 0.032; 95% CI, 0.002-0.479) were much lower in the suspension group; the risk of complications was comparable (OR, 0.346; 95% CI, 0.085-1.403).

CONCLUSION

OSAS is an easy, safe, and feasible method that offers advantages during LESS. Although routine use of OSAS is not necessary, OSAS can be considered during LESS to facilitate the surgery.