PURPOSE: to evaluate the teaching and the practice of hysterectomy in the Brazilian regions and to compare them with data of international literature. METHODS: questionnaires about nine issues on benign hysterectomy indications, surgical procedures, use of antibiotic prophylaxis, suture of the vaginal vault and complications were sent to the 132 Gynecological and Obstetrics Residency Services of Brazil, registered by the Ministry of the Education and Culture in 2003. Data were computed and statically analyzed, with the use of the Friedman's, Kruskal-Wallis's and chi2 tests, according to the characteristics of the variables. RESULTS: 48.5% of the questionnaires were answered or justified when there were no answers, mainly in the Southeastern region (62%). The main surgical hysterectomy procedure was the abdominal, varying from 60 to 100% (p<0.001), followed by the vaginal (10 to 40%) and the laparoscopy (6%). In 94% of the cases, laparoscopy was not employed. The main indication for hysterectomy was myomatosis (60.4%; p<0.001), followed by adenomiosis (8.3%) and abnormal uterine bleeding (7.5%). First generation cephalosporin was used for antibiotic prophylaxis in 94% of the cases. There was no significant statistical difference among the threads (simple Catgut®, chrome Catgut® or Vicryl®) used for the suture of the vaginal vault and the development of granuloma in this region, which was the main complication of the procedure (p=0,002). CONCLUSIONS: the surgical procedures, the hysterectomy indications, the threads used to suture the vaginal vault and the complications were similar in the different regions of Brazil and they agreed with the evidence reported in the international literature.
Hysterectomy; Hospital, teaching; Genital diseases, female; Gynecologic surgical procedures
