Our objective was to evaluate postoperative pain and opioid consumption in patients undergoing hysterectomy by low-impact laparoscopy and compare these parameters with conventional laparoscopy. We conducted a prospective study in two French gynecological surgery departments from May 2017 to January 2018. The primary endpoint was the intensity of postoperative pain evaluated by a validated numeric rating scale (NRS) and opioid consumption in the postoperative recovery unit on Day 0 and Day 1. Thirty-two patients underwent low-impact laparoscopy and 77 had conventional laparoscopy. Most of the patients (90.6%) who underwent low-impact laparoscopy were managed as outpatients. There was a significantly higher consumption of strong opioids in the conventional compared to the low-impact group on both Day 0 and Day 1: 26.0% and 36.4% vs. 3.1% and 12.5%, respectively (p = 0.02 and p < 0.01). Over two-thirds of the patients in the low-impact group did not require opioids postoperatively. Two factors were predictive of lower postoperative opioid consumption: low-impact laparoscopy (OR 1.38, 95%CI 1.13−1.69, p = 0.002) and a mean intraoperative peritoneum below 10 mmHg (OR 1.25, 95%CI 1.03−1.51). Total hysterectomy by low-impact laparoscopy is feasible in an outpatient setting and is associated with a marked decrease in opioid consumption compared to conventional laparoscopy.
Keywords: hysterectomy; low impact laparoscopy; opioids; postoperative pain.