Aim: To compare the results of conventional laparoscopic (CL) and vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) techniques for the treatment of benign adnexal pathologies.
Materials and methods: The study consisted of 114 patients who underwent CL or vNOTES for oophorectomy, ovarian cystectomy, or ectopic pregnancies. The medical and surgical data of the study population in terms of age, gravidity, parity, body mass index (BMI), duration of surgery, size of the mass, decrease in hemoglobin/hematocrit levels, the presence of complications, and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores at the 6th and 24th hours were analyzed.
Results: Both groups of patients (CL and vNOTES) had a similar mean age (42.22 ± 12.05 vs. 42.38 ± 13.06), mean BMI (27.51 ± 4.96 kg/m2 vs. 29.63 ± 7.86 kg/m2), and mean mass size (53.17 ± 24.41 vs. 48.93 ± 32.33) (the p-value was nonsignificant for all comparisons). According to the logistic regression propensity score match model, the duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the vNOTES group (48.33 ± 33.12 min) compared to the CL group (72.23 ± 43.63 min) (p = .04). Postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the vNOTES group (38.4 ± 14.91 hours) compared to the CL group (48 ± 17.82 hours) (p = .03). Postoperative 6th- and 24th-hour VAS pain scores were significantly lower in the vNOTES group (p = .003 and .03, respectively).
Conclusion: As an alternative to CL, vNOTES seems to be a promising approach for the treatment of a variety of adnexal pathologies.
Keywords: Ectopic pregnancy; laparoscopy; natural orifice surgery; oophorectomy.