Survey of the desire to have children and engage in sexual activity after trachelectomy among young Japanese women with early-stage cervical cancer

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate how the desire to have children and engage in sexual activity change after trachelectomy in Japanese women with early-stage cervical cancer who strongly desired to have children before surgery.

Methods: Desire to have children, coital pain, fear of sexual intercourse, sexual activity frequency and libido were assessed in cervical cancer patients who received follow-up after trachelectomy. An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted via informed consent.

Results: Of the 151 patients who underwent trachelectomy at Kyushu University Hospital between 2005 and 2015, 46 patients were evaluated; the response rate was 30%. The desire to have children disappeared in 13 of 46 (28%) patients, and 14 (30%) patients experienced increased coital pain. Moreover, 19 (41%) patients experienced fear of sexual intercourse, and sexual frequency decreased in 24 (52%) patients.

Conclusion: Trachelectomy is an important fertility-sparing surgical method; however, this study revealed loss of the desire to have children and/or to engage in sexual activity in some patients after surgery. Counseling about these issues is important and should be addressed.

Keywords: cervical cancer; sexual consciousness; trachelectomy.