Development of abnormal bowel function after simple hysterectomy

Objective: To evaluate patients’ bowel function before and after total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH), Methods: Between March and September 2017, 74 patients who were scheduled for TAH were enrolled to this prospective study. All the patients were interviewed by the researcher using Thai gastrointestinal quality of life questionnaire at the preoperative day, 1, 3, and 6 months after the operation. The questionnaire consisted of 18 questions designed to assess the abnormal bowel function with the 5 score levels, from 0 to 4. The minimal scores meant the minimal frequency of symptoms with the overall scores ranged from 0 to 72. Results: The mean age was 51.3 years old and the mean BMI was 24.1 kg/m2. The most common indication was myoma (41.9%) and about 30% was malignant conditions. Previous cesarean section was observed in 24.3% and previous other surgery was 6.3%. Most additional procedure was bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (68.9%). One third of them underwent adhesiolysis. According to the questionnaire summary scores, the mean of total scores was 1.91±4.22 (0-25), 0.81±1.44 (0-6), 0.54±1.38 (0-8), and 0.46±1.22 (0-8) at preoperative day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the operation, respectively. The mean scores in 3 post-operative time points were significantly decreased when compared with preoperative period. (p value < 0.05), Conclusion: Almost patients underwent TAH did not develop abnormal bowel function after surgery. In addition, patients with initial abnormal bowel function were significantly improved after surgery.