Objectives: The aim of the present study was to observe the trend of length of cone excisions in women treated with cervical excision procedure in five institutions of Central and Northern Italy.
Materials and methods: A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted on women who underwent a cervical excision procedure between January 2006 and December 2014. The pertinent clinical, histopathological, and sociodemographic characteristics of each woman were collected. In particular, the length of the cone specimen was evaluated and all of the factors that potentially influenced the length of excision were considered.
Results: A total of 1482 women who underwent a cervical excision procedure from January 2006 to December 2014 were included. A mean (SD) cone length of 12.9 (5.0) mm was reported, and mostly, a significant decrease during the whole study period emerged. Age (r = 0.1, p = .007) and preoperative diagnosis of glandular lesions (r = 0.1, p < .001) were significantly related to the length of cone excision on multivariate analysis. Compared with the carbon dioxide laser excisional procedure, loop electrosurgical excision procedure showed a negative correlation with the length of excision (r = -0.2, p < .001).
Conclusions: During the study period, a significant decrease in the length of cone excision was observed, probably reflecting the gynecologists' acquired awareness of the increased risk of adverse obstetric outcomes for future pregnancies in the case of wide cone excisions.