ABSTRACT
By the time women reach the age of 55 years, 20% in the UK, 25% in Australia, and 37% (by the age of 60 years) in the USA will have undergone a hysterectomy. Hysterectomy is the second most frequent surgical procedure in the USA [1] where about 650 000 hysterectomies are performed annually. Until the start of the 1990s, hysterectomy was carried out through either the vaginal or the abdominal route but, since the advent of laparoscopy, the choice is wider: vaginal, abdominal, and laparoscopic options are available, which may be total, subtotal, or in combination such as vaginal with laparoscopic assistance. All these are now widely accepted and performed. Gynaecologists are now frequently recognized for their level of expertise in a particular type of hysterectomy: the one using a laparoscope is considered as the most advanced and the one using laparoscopic hysterectomy is looked on as at the pinnacle of surgical skills, which in actuality is far from the truth.
