Correlation of perioperative morbidity and conization to radical hysterectomy interval.

Between October 1969 and December 1980, radical hysterectomies were performed on 311 patients at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham. The hospital records of these patients were reviewed for perioperative morbidity. One hundred twenty-two patients (39.2%) had had previous cold knife conization. The conization to radical hysterectomy interval varied between 48 hours and 8 weeks. An analysis of the perioperative morbidity was performed comparing patients with to those without prior conization. Previous cervical conization, regardless of the interval, was not associated with increased hospital stay, operative time, blood loss, or febrile morbidity in patients undergoing radical hysterectomy. These findings suggest that a radical hysterectomy may be safely performed after cervical conization, regardless of the intervening interval.