Subtotal versus total abdominal hysterectomy
Transcription
Subtotal versus total abdominal hysterectomy
Research ajog.org GYNECOLOGY Subtotal versus total abdominal hysterectomy: randomized clinical trial with 14-year questionnaire follow-up Lea Laird Andersen, MD; Bent Ottesen, MD, DMSc; Lars Mikael Alling Møller, MD, PhD; Christian Gluud, MD, DMSc; Ann Tabor, MD, DMSc; Vibeke Zobbe, MD; Elise Hoffmann, MD; Helga Margrethe Gimbel, MD, DMSc; for the Danish Hysterectomy Trial Group OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare long-term results of subtotal vs total abdominal hysterectomy for benign uterine diseases 14 years after hysterectomy, with urinary incontinence as the primary outcome measure. STUDY DESIGN: This was a long-term follow-up of a multicenter, randomized clinical trial without blinding. Eleven gynecological departments in Denmark contributed participants to the trial. Women referred for benign uterine diseases who did not have contraindications to subtotal abdominal hysterectomy were randomized to subtotal (n ¼ 161) vs total (n ¼ 158) abdominal hysterectomy. All women enrolled in the trial from 1996 to 2000 who were still alive and living in Denmark (n ¼ 304) were invited to answer the validated questionnaire used in prior 1 and 5 year follow-ups. Hospital contacts possibly related to hysterectomy from 5 to 14 years postoperatively were registered from discharge summaries from all public hospitals in Denmark. The results were analyzed as intention to treat and per protocol. Possible bias caused by missing data was handled by multiple imputation. The primary outcome was urinary incontinence; the secondary outcomes were pelvic organ prolapse, constipation, pain, sexuality, quality of life (Short Form-36 questionnaire), hospital contacts, and vaginal bleeding. RESULTS: The questionnaire was answered by 197 of 304 women (64.8%) (subtotal hysterectomy [n ¼ 97] [63.4%]; total hysterectomy [n ¼ 100] [66.2%]). Mean follow-up time was 14 years and mean age at follow-up was 60.1 years. After subtotal abdominal hysterectomy, 32 of 97 women (33%) complained of urinary incontinence compared with 20 of 100 women (20%) after total abdominal hysterectomy 14 years after hysterectomy (relative risk, 1.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.02e2.70; P ¼ .035). After a multiple imputation analysis, this difference disappeared (relative risk, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.86e2.13; P ¼ .19). No differences were seen in any of the secondary outcomes. CONCLUSION: Subtotal abdominal hysterectomy was not superior to total abdominal hysterectomy on any outcomes. More women seem to have subjective urinary incontinence 14 years after subtotal abdominal hysterectomy. This result was not confirmed by multiple imputation analysis and should be interpreted cautiously. Key words: hysterectomy, long-term follow-up, pelvic organ prolapse, quality of life, urinary incontinence Cite this article as: Andersen LL, Ottesen B, Alling Møller LM, et al. Subtotal versus total abdominal hysterectomy: randomized clinical trial with 14-year questionnaire follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015;212:758.e1-54. From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nykøbing Falster Hospital, Nykøbing Falster in association with the University of Southern Denmark (Drs Andersen and Gimbel); Juliane Marie Center (Dr Ottesen), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Drs Zobbe and Tabor), and Copenhagen Trial Unit, Center for Clinical Intervention Research (Dr Gluud), Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen; and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Roskilde Hospital, Roskilde (Drs Alling Møller and Hoffmann), Denmark. Received Sept. 9, 2014; revised Nov. 14, 2014; accepted Dec. 17, 2014. This long-term follow-up study was supported by the research foundation of Region Sjælland, University of Southern Denmark, and the Department of Gynecology, Nykøbing Falster Hospital, Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital), and Roskilde Hospital, Denmark. B.O. and H.M.G. are members of the board of the Danish Hysterectomy and Hysteroscopy Database. The other authors report no conflict of interest. Presented in oral format at the 39th biannual meeting of the Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stockholm, Sweden, June 10-12, 2014, and as a poster at the 7th annual congress of Leading Lights in Urogynecology, European Urogynecological Association, Athens, Greece, Oct. 2-4, 2014. Corresponding author: L. L. Andersen, MD. [email protected] 0002-9378/$36.00 ª 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2014.12.039 758.e1 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 A pproximately 4500 benign hysterectomies are performed yearly in Denmark.1 Although the use of the less invasive laparoscopic mode of hysterectomy is rising, 32% of Danish hysterectomies in 2012 were abdominal,2 and more than 50% of hysterectomies in the United States were abdominal in 2010.3 Of abdominal hysterectomies, 10% were subtotal, and of laparoscopic hysterectomies, 20% were subtotal in Denmark in 2011.1 In some hospitals in Germany, subtotal laparoscopic hysterectomy is the standard and accounts for more than 80% of laparoscopic hysterectomies.4 The background for preferring subtotal hysterectomy is that it is simpler and quicker and may result in Gynecology ajog.org fewer complications.5 However, morcellation is part of this mode of hysterectomy, and because leiomyosarcomas are sometimes mistaken for fibromas, morcellation is no longer recommended by the Food and Drug Administration6; consequently, one may assume, in the future, large uteri will more often be removed by abdominal hysterectomy. Studies in the 1980s7-9 suggested that subtotal abdominal hysterectomy (SAH) was superior to total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) regarding sexual function. This finding was not reproduced in randomized clinical trials (RCTs).10-12 The risk of cervical cancer in the remaining cervix is another important issue. Nevertheless, if a Papanicolaou smear is normal prior to surgery and the woman continues to participate in cervical cancer screening, the risk of cervical cancer is only approximately 0.03%.14,15 Three RCTs comparable with our Danish trial15,16 comparing SAH with TAH16-18 have performed long-term follow-up and found no significant differences between SAH and TAH on clinical outcomes. Few data on longterm outcomes after subtotal vs total laparoscopic hysterectomy are available.19 Although open abdominal and laparoscopic surgery differ in many ways, the most recent Cochrane systematic review20 on the topic included both methods and stated that there was no evidence to support the shift toward subtotal hysterectomy seen in laparoscopy. The authors of the review conclude that more long-term follow-up is needed because urogenital problems may occur years after surgery, especially in postmenopausal women.20 We aimed to compare 14-year outcomes after SAH vs TAH in women included in a randomized clinical trial for benign uterine diseases.14,15 The primary outcome is urinary incontinence (UI) 14 years after hysterectomy. M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS In 1996e2000, 319 women from 11 gynecological departments in Denmark were randomized to SAH vs TAH.14 Details about eligibility criteria, consent, inclusion, randomization, and surgical procedures have been published.14 The sample size of the original trial was calculated based on an assumed prevalence of the primary outcome, UI, 1 year after TAH of approximately 23%.21,22 With a power of 0.80, a type I error of 5%, and a 15% absolute difference in UI between the surgical groups, 160 participants had to be included in each intervention group.14 Results from 1 year of follow-up14 showed that significantly more women in the SAH group were urinary incontinent compared with the TAH group. A decrease in UI after hysterectomy was seen in both surgical groups. The secondary outcomes postoperative complications, quality of life (Short Form-36 [SF-36]), constipation, pelvic organ prolapse, satisfaction with sexual life, and pelvic pain did not show any difference between surgical groups. Neither did the further analyses of lower urinary tract symptoms23 and sexuality.13 At 1 year, 20% of the SAH group still experienced vaginal bleeding. At 5 years,15 the significant difference between SAH and TAH regarding UI was reproduced. The number of incontinent women was higher than at 1 year. In the SAH group, 11% still experienced vaginal bleeding. All participants still alive and living in Denmark in September 2012 were contacted by letter, and it contained the validated questionnaire24 (Appendix; Supplemental Material) used in prior follow-ups.14,15 The questionnaire assessed primary and secondary outcomes (presented in the following text). Reminders were sent 2 and 7 months later to nonresponders. Participants were encouraged to return the questionnaire unanswered if they did not wish to participate, thus avoiding reminders. Age at follow-up and follow-up time was calculated with January 2013 as the cutoff point. The primary outcome, UI, was defined as a subjective complaint of involuntary loss of urine often or always (question 35 in the questionnaire). Because this result could reflect a difference in treatment-seeking behavior between surgical groups rather than in the occurrence of UI, we also analyzed the number of Research women who reported UI at any time since hysterectomy including prior follow-ups.14,15 Secondary outcomes were hospital contacts, pelvic organ prolapse (POP), pelvic pain, satisfaction with sex life, constipation, quality of life (QoL), and vaginal bleeding after SAH. All outcomes, except QoL, were dichotomized, and the SAH and TAH groups were compared using a c2 test. Analyses were conducted as intention to treat as well as per protocol excluding participants that did not receive the allocated intervention (Figure 1). As in prior follow-ups,14,15 the conclusions are based on the intention-to-treat analyses. Additionally, satisfaction with sex life was analyzed separately for those stating they had a partner and those who did not. QoL was assessed by the validated SF36 questionnaire25 included in our questionnaire (Supplemental Material). SF-36 was scored according to the specifications by Quality Metric using the official scoring software. For each participant a physical component score (PCS) and a mental component score (MCS) were calculated. These scores are validated and a norms based mean of 50 is interpreted as average QoL. Means were compared between surgical groups using the Wilcoxon rank sum test because the scores were not normally distributed. Some women did not answer all questions resulting in different totals for each analysis. The number in each group for the particular analysis is stated in Table 1. To account for possible bias caused by missing data because of the loss to follow-up and incomplete questionnaires, multiple imputation (MI) was carried out using the FCS method in SAS (version 9.3; SAS Institute, Cary, NC) using the PROC MI and MIANALYZE functions. The 14-year outcomes imputed were UI, pelvic pain, POP, satisfaction with sex life, QoL, and constipation. The following variables were included in the imputation model because they were associated with (P < .1) one or more of the outcomes in the multivariate logistic regression: baseline variables included type of surgery, number of JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e2 Research Gynecology ajog.org FIGURE 1 Flowchart of participants The figure shows participants at each stage of the trial from randomization through all follow-ups and reasons for dropouts. SAH, subtotal abdominal hysterectomy; TAH, total abdominal hysterectomy. Andersen. SAH vs TAH, RCT with 14 year follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015. deliveries, largest baby greater than 4000 g, smoking more than 5 cigarettes per day, alcohol consumption greater than 14 units per week (1 unit ¼ 12 g of alcohol), UI, pain, and constipation. Follow-up variables included were as follows: UI, pelvic pain, POP, constipation, satisfaction with sex life at 1 and 5 years, and physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) QoL scores at 1 year. One hundred imputed datasets were created using a maximum of 100 iterations. This was chosen to obtain high precision in the analyses. The MI method assumes that missingness is missing at random, meaning that missing data are related to other observed variables but not to unobserved variables or to the missing items.26 The imputed datasets were analyzed by a c2 test, and the pooled analyses were carried out using the MIANALYZE function (SAS Institute). Relative risks were logarithmically transformed before pooling to comply with Rubin’s rules for pooling imputed 758.e3 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 results.27 The QoL scores were not normally distributed, and despite using the transformations of inverse, log, squared, gamma, exponential, box cox, and beta, we could not approximate the normality. We entered the untransformed scores in the MI model and analyzed them using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Because a normal distribution is assumed in MI, this could potentially skew other outcomes. However, we ran the MI with and without QoL included, and it had no impact on other outcomes. Hospital contacts were registered for all randomized women by looking up all discharge summaries from Danish public hospitals from 5 years postoperatively until July 2013 in the central registry of discharge summaries. Any hospital contact regarding abdominal, gynecological, urological (including UI), plastic surgical, or dermatological complaints were scrutinized. If the contact might be related to the prior hysterectomy, it was registered. Hospital contacts from the time of surgery until 5 years postoperatively have been published elsewhere.14,15 Hospital contacts were divided into the following categories: recurrent urinary tract infection (including pyelonephritis), pain, UI, POP, cervical problems (bleeding or dysplasia), other urogenital, skin problems/hernias, and others. All data were handled and analyzed using SASjmp version 10 statistical software (SAS Institute) except for MI, which was carried out in SAS version 9.3 (SAS Institute). The original trial as well as this followup was accepted by the regional ethics committee journal number, SJ-268, as well as the Danish Data Protection Agency journal number 2012-41-0286. R ESULTS We contacted 304 women (95.3%) (SAH: 153; TAH: 151); 10 (3.1%) had died, from causes unrelated to hysterectomy, and 5 (1.6%) had left Denmark. Two hundred forty-nine women (82%) returned the questionnaire; however, 52 (17.1%) returned it blank stating that they did not wish to participate. A total of 197 (64.8%) answered the questionnaire (Figure 1). Gynecology ajog.org Research TABLE 1 Primary and secondary outcome measures at 14 year follow-up intention-to-treat Outcome (n [ SAH/TAH) Observed data SAH TAH RR 95% CI Multiple imputation P value RR 95% CI P value UI, % (n ¼ 96/100) 32 (33.3) 20 (20) 1.67 1.02e2.70 .035 1.36 0.86e2.13 .19 Constipation, % (n ¼ 97/100) 14 (14.4) 7 (7) 2.06 0.87e4.89 .091 1.77 0.83e3.77 .14 Pelvic organ prolapse, % (n ¼ 93/97) 12 (12.9) 11 (11.3) 1.14 0.53e2.45 .74 0.97 0.50e1.86 .92 Satisfied with sexual life, % (n ¼ 75/78) 48 (64) 53 (67.9) 0.94 0.75e1.18 .61 1.09 0.76e1.58 .64 Pelvic pain, % (n ¼ 96/100) 14 (14.6) 10 (10) 1.46 0.68e3.12 .33 1.33 0.69e2.55 .40 Vaginal bleeding, % (SAH only, n ¼ 97) a 0 QoLb Mean (95% CI) SAH Mean (95% CI) TAH PCS mean (95% CI) 50.4 (48.5e52.4) 51.3 (49.4e53.2) .54 50.05 (48.5e51.6) 50.9 (49.1e52.8) .67 MCS mean (95% CI) 54.8 (52.9e56.7) 53.2 (51.4e55.1) .39 54.4 (52.5e56.1) 52.2 (50.7e54.2) .87 CI, confidence interval; MCS, mental component score; PCS, physical component score; QoL, quality of life; RR, relative risk; SAH, subtotal abdominal hysterectomy; TAH, total abdominal hysterectomy; UI, urinary incontinence. a Statistically significant; b Wilcoxon rank sum test. Andersen. SAH vs TAH, RCT with 14 year follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015. The number of participants in the groups was similar: 97 of 153 (63.4%) in the SAH group and 100 of 151 (66.2%) in the TAH group. Characteristics of the participants and nonparticipants in this follow-up (Table 2) did not differ according to baseline variables from time of surgery except that fewer of the participants were smokers at the time of surgery and more participants had an alcohol consumption greater than 14 units per week at time of surgery than the nonparticipants. The 2 surgical groups of responders were comparable (Table 2). Mean age at follow-up was 60.1 years; mean follow-up time was 14.1 years. More women in the SAH group (32 of 97, 33.3%) than in the TAH group (20 of 100, 20%) reported UI often or always (P ¼ .035) (Table 1). The difference was also significant in the per-protocol analysis (P ¼ .024) (Table 3). Table 3 also shows the other analyses of UI as described in the Materials and Methods section. Analysis of multiple imputed data showed no significant differences between surgical groups regarding UI (P ¼ .19) (Table 1). Neither the physical (PCS) nor the mental (MCS) score of the SF-36 QoL questionnaire differed between the surgical groups, and the means were consistent with the expected mean of 50 (Table 1). None of the participants experienced vaginal bleeding at 14 years. Twenty-one women (11.5%) stated they did not have a partner. Of these, 9 (42.9%) stated that they did not know whether they were satisfied with their sex life. Six (28.6%) stated they were satisfied and 6 (28.6%) stated they were not. Among those with a partner (n ¼ 162, 88.5%), 22 (13.6%) did not know whether they were satisfied with their sex life, 94 (58%) were satisfied, and 46 (28.4%) were not. Those who stated they did not know whether they were satisfied were excluded from the analysis of satisfaction with sex life in the 2 surgical groups (Table 1). There was no difference in satisfaction with sex life between SAH and TAH overall (Table 1) or when subdivided according to partner status (data not shown). The other secondary outcomes are shown in Table 1. None of them showed significant differences between surgical groups in the analysis of observed data or in multiple imputation. Hospital contacts from 5 to 14 years after hysterectomy are shown in Figure 2. There was no significant difference in the total number of hospital contacts (SAH, 29 [17.7%] vs TAH, 18 [11.3%]; relative risk, 1.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.91e2.71; P ¼ .10). C OMMENT On observed data, we found that more women had UI after SAH than after TAH 14 years after surgery. This is consistent with prior results from our trial.14,15 At 14 years, the percentage of UI in the TAH group has reached approximately the prehysterectomy level, whereas the percentage in the SAH JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e4 Research Gynecology ajog.org TABLE 2 Characteristics for responders and nonresponders as well as the responders divided into surgical groups Participants (n [ 197) Characteristic Nonparticipants (n [ 122) P value SAH participants (n [ 97) TAH participants (n [ 100) Age, y (SD) 60.1 (5.8) 60.5 (6.6) .58 60.7 (5.9) 59.6 (5.6) Follow-up time, y (range) 14.1 (12e16) 14.04 (12e16) .77 14.2 (12e16) 14.03 (12e16) 1.8 (0e5) 1.74 (0e5) .58 1.85 (0e5) 1.76 (0e4) Parity (range) 2 BMI, kg/m (SD) a 26.1 (6.7) 25.5 (4.6) .38 26.45 (7.1) 25.71 (6.3) 115 (58.4) 70 (57.4) .86 58 (59.8) 57 (57.0) 63 (31.9) 42 (34.7) .59 29 (29.9) 34 (33.6) Dysmenorrhea 8 (4.1) 4 (3.31) .74 3 (3.1) 5 (4.9) Pelvic pain 9 (4.6) 4 (3.31) .58 6 (6.2) 3 (2.9) Endometriosis 0 1 (0.83) .16 0 Other 2 (1.02) 1 (0.83) .87 1 (1.03) 1 (0.99) SAH 97 (49.2) 64 (52.5) .58 TAH 100 (50.8) 58 (47.5) .58 Smoking >5 cigarettes per day, %b 46 (23.4) 57 (46.7) < .0001 18 (18.6) 28 (28.0) Alcohol >14 units per week , %b,c 22 (11.2) 6 (4.9) .047 13 (13.4) 9 (9.0) Chronic disease, %d 97 (49.2) 25 (29.4) .0018 49 (50.5) 48 (48.5) Preoperative UI, % 48 (25.0%) (n ¼ 192) 20 (17.4%) (n ¼ 115) .110 26 (27.7%) (n ¼ 94) 22 (22.2%) (n ¼ 99) Indication for hysterectomy, % Fibroids Abnormal uterine bleeding 0 Type of surgery, % BMI, body mass index; SAH, subtotal abdominal hysterectomy; TAH, total abdominal hysterectomy; UI, urinary incontinence. a BMI at follow-up for participants but baseline for nonparticipants; b At time of surgery; c A unit of alcohol, in Denmark, is defined as 12 g of alcohol, which is the approximate content of a normal beer or a glass of wine; d At 14 year follow-up for participants and at 1 year for nonparticipants. Andersen. SAH vs TAH, RCT with 14 year follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015. group is now higher.14 However, the MI analysis did not show a significant difference. No significant differences were found between SAH and TAH on the secondary outcomes. The strengths of the present results are that they represent the largest randomized clinical trial on the topic and have the longest follow-up time. The Danish social security number enabled us to locate all participants and look up hospital contacts for everyone. One limitation of this follow-up is the low response, which might compromise the external validity of the trial. Nonresponders might differ in a systematic way from responders, meaning that our sample at follow-up is less representative of the population than the original trial sample. Other than smoking and alcohol consumption at the time of surgery, our baseline data do not suggest systematic differences. The internal validity could be compromised if an imbalance was seen in responders between intervention groups. However, the responders in the 2 surgical groups are comparable according to baseline characteristics. None of the reasons given for not participating were related to the hysterectomy method. Explanations of our low response could be the loss of interest because of the long follow-up, older age, or medical conditions making it overwhelming to be asked to participate. In addition, according to the ethics committee, we were allowed to contact participants by letter only. Contact by telephone was allowed in earlier followups14,15 as well as in a comparable trial.16 We used MI to handle missing data. This analysis showed no significant 758.e5 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 difference regarding UI or any other outcomes. This might reflect that there truly is no difference, and our observed finding may be caused by attrition bias. Alternatively, the uncertainty incorporated in MI (within imputation variance and between imputation variance)26 increases with the percentage of missing data and yields wider confidence intervals leading to nonsignificant results. A third explanation of the difference between our observed and MI results could be an unknown confounding factor related to missingness as well as UI, meaning that our assumption of missing at random is incorrect, and the data are truly missing not at random. In this case, the MI analysis is not valid.26 Our observed findings correspond well with prior follow-ups of this trial with higher response proportions.14,15 The relative Gynecology ajog.org FIGURE 2 TABLE 3 Hospital contacts from 5 to 14 years after hysterectomy Analyses of urinary incontinence Urinary incontinence (n [ SAH/TAH) SAH (%) TAH (%) RR 95% CI P value Questionnaire only (n ¼ 97/100) 32 (33.3) 20 (20) 1.67 1.02e2.70 .035a Questionnaire or prior treatment for UI according to discharge summaries (n ¼ 97/100) 34 (35.4%) 23 (23%) 1.54 0.98e2.41 .056 Questionnaire at any time point (all participants in RCT) (n ¼ 161/158) 67 (41.6%) 49 (31%) 1.34 1.0e1.80 .049a Questionnaire at any time point (only those who answered 14 year follow-up) (n ¼ 96/100) 45 (46.9%) 31 (31%) 1.51 1.05e2.17 .023a Per protocol (n ¼ 84/88) 29 (34.5) 17 (19.3) 1.78 1.06e3.00 .024a CI, confidence interval; RCT, randomized controlled trial; RR, relative risk; SAH, subtotal abdominal hysterectomy; TAH, total abdominal hysterectomy; UI, urinary incontinence. a Research Statistically significant. Andersen. SAH vs TAH, RCT with 14 year follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015. Bar chart of hospital contacts possibly related to the prior hysterectomy. Contacts are divided into categories and are shown for each hysterectomy group separately. UTI, urinary tract infection. Andersen. SAH vs TAH, RCT with 14 year follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015. risk found in MI for UI is the same as it was in the 5 year follow-up15; however, in that analysis the value was P ¼.052, much closer to a statistically significant result. This could reflect the increased uncertainty because of the higher percentage of missing data as explained above. Another limitation of the trial is the lack of blinding. This has been discussed in prior follow-ups.14,15 Long-term follow-up of SAH vs TAH has been completed in 3 other RCTs.16-18 The longest follow-up was 11.3 years,18 with a mean age of 57 years. These trials found no significant differences in the outcomes studied. Persson et al18 saw a tendency toward worse outcomes after SAH than after TAH and concluded that this might have been significant if the study had sufficient power or longer follow-up. Our trial is larger and has longer follow-up, and we found a significant difference in UI. We also looked at the number of incontinent women at any time point to see whether the difference found at 14 years was a difference in occurrence of UI or a difference in treatment-seeking behavior between surgical groups. This analysis also showed significantly more women with UI in the SAH group than the TAH group. The comparable trials also had missing data. Thakar et al17 had a response of 65% (n ¼ 181), Persson et al18 a response of 82% (n ¼ 151), and Greer et al16 a response of 27.4% (n ¼ 37). Our response of 64.8% (n ¼ 197) is comparable with these. None of the other long-term follow-ups16-18 included MI or other ways of handling missing data, meaning that possible attrition bias was not elucidated in these trials. A metaanalysis including all long-term RCTs and taking attrition bias into account would be of great interest. Our trial included white women only, and therefore, our results cannot be readily transferred to populations of mixed ethnicity. The prevalence of UI differs between ethnic groups; stress UI is less common in women of African descent.28,29 This could explain the difference between our results and those of Thakar et al17; their population was mixed and one third of the population was of African descent. One theory to explain our finding of more UI in the SAH group is that the method of suspension of the vagina used in SAH and TAH might differ; no instructions regarding suspension were given to the surgeons. The suspension performed in TAH might yield more support than the woman’s own connective tissue, spared in SAH, which might lead to stress UI in the SAH group. A further investigation of how suspension is performed might elucidate this. Like comparable trials,16-18 we found no difference in QoL between surgical groups. QoL scores were similar to our 1 year follow-up.14 QoL is important when treating benign diseases, and a stable score after 14 years is a good outcome for the participants. Up to 14 years after hysterectomy, we still saw hospital contacts possibly related to hysterectomy. We found a nonsignificant tendency toward more hospital contacts in the SAH group. No other long-term follow-ups16-18 have looked at this outcome. None of the women had vaginal bleeding at 14 years. At 5 years,15 11% of the women in the SAH group experienced vaginal bleeding. Natural menopause is the main reason for the difference in results from 5 to 14 years. Only one woman had her cervix removed since last follow-up, and this is included in the cervical problems category in Figure 2. Other outcomes might be important after laparoscopic hysterectomy such as vaginal dehiscence in total laparoscopic hysterectomy and leiomyosarcomas and other complications to morcellation after subtotal laparoscopic hysterectomy. RCTs with long-term follow-up are needed to compare subtotal vs total JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e6 Research Gynecology laparoscopic hysterectomy to shed light on these outcomes unless the subtotal approach is stopped because of morcellation issues.6 The percentage of hysterectomies performed abdominally has been declining.1,2 The recent discussion of morcellation6 could mean a return to abdominal hysterectomy for large uteri and an increase in vaginal hysterectomy for smaller uteri. In conclusion, on observed data, more women were urinary incontinent after SAH compared with TAH; however, this result must be interpreted cautiously because of a high loss to follow-up. A metaanalysis of all long-term follow-ups might elucidate this topic. The shift toward subtotal hysterectomy in laparoscopy might not be of long-term benefit to the patients, if the results from abdominal hysterectomy can be directly transferred to laparoscopy. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Jakob Hjort for his generation of the allocation sequence and excellent management of the randomization procedure and program; Kasper Munck (SAS Institute) for statistical advice and help with the multiple imputation; and Per Winkel (Copenhagen Trial Unit) for advice about multiple imputation. The remaining members of the Danish Hysterectomy Trial Group are provided with the full-length article at ajog.org. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with the identifier number of NCT01880710. The trial is registered on clinicaltrials.gov under Nykoebing Falster County Hospital Record sj-268: Total versus subtotal hysterectomy: http:// clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01880710?term¼ hysterectomy&rank¼27. The Hysterectomy Trial Group consists of the authors and of the following members: Kristian Jakobsen, MD, Helle Christina Sørensen, MD, Kim ToftagerLarsen, MD, DMSc, Nini Møller, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nordsjællands Hospital, Hillerød, Denmark; Ellen Merete Madsen, MD, Mogens Vejtorp, MD, DMSc, Helle Clausen, MD, PhD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Herlev University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark. The authors’ contribution included the following: H.M.G. designed and was the principal investigator of the original trial, created and validated the questionnaire, recruited and randomized participants, and sent out questionnaires for the prior follow-ups. L.L.A. is responsible for sending out the 14 year questionnaires, handling the data and statistical analysis, and drafting and revising the article. L.L.A. is the corresponding author. B.O., C.G., A.T., and V.Z. participated in the design and conduct of the original trial as well as this follow-up. L.M.A.M. and E.H. participated in the ajog.org design of the long-term follow-up with L.L.A. and H.M.G. All of the authors critically revised the article and approved the final manuscript. The Danish Hysterectomy Trial Group participated in recruiting and randomizing the participants. The local ethics committees of the participating centers (Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Roskilde, Storstrøms, and Vestsjællands Counties, journal number 1995-1-65) and the Danish Data Protection Agency had accepted the design of the randomized clinical trial before the recruitment of patients as well as the current follow-up. The regional ethics committee in Region Sjaelland accepted the design of the long-term follow-up (journal number SJ-268). REFERENCES 1. Dansk Hysterektomi Database. Danish hysterectomy database yearly report, 2011. Dansk Hysterektomi Database; Oct. 1, 2012. 2. Danish Hysterectomy and Hysteroscopy Database. National yearly report, 2012. 2013. 3. Wright JD, Herzog TJ, Tsui J, et al. Nationwide trends in the performance of inpatient hysterectomy in the United States. Obstet Gynecol 2013;122:233-41. 4. Wallwiener M, Taran FA, Rothmund R, et al. Laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy (LSH) versus total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH): an implementation study in 1,952 patients with an analysis of risk factors for conversion to laparotomy and complications, and of procedurespecific re-operations. Arch Gynecol Obstet 2013;288:1329-39. 5. Sutton C. Past, present, and future of hysterectomy. J Minim Invasive Gynecol 2010;17:421-35. 6. Food and Drug Administration. 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Int Urogynecol J Pelvic Floor Dysfunct 2005;16:257-62. 24. Gimbel H, Zobbe V, Ottesen BS, Tabor A. Randomized clinical trial of total vs. subtotal hysterectomy: validity of the trial questionnaire. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2002;81:968-74. 25. Bjorner JB, Thunedborg K, Kristensen TS, Modvig J, Bech P. The Danish SF-36 Health Survey: translation and preliminary validity studies. J Clin Epidemiol 1998;51:991-9. 26. Schafer JL, Graham JW. Missing data: our view of the state of the art. Psychol Methods 2002;7:147-77. 27. Ratitch B, Lipkovich I, O’Kelly M. Combining analysis results from multiply imputed categorical data. PharmaSUG 2013;2013. 28. Graham CA, Mallett VT. Race as a predictor of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;185:116-20. 29. Thom DH, van den Eeden SK, Ragins AI, et al. Differences in prevalence of urinary incontinence by race/ethnicity. J Urol 2006;175:259-64. ajog.org Gynecology Research APPENDIX Supplemental materials JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e8 Research Gynecology 758.e9 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e10 Research Gynecology 758.e11 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e12 Research Gynecology 758.e13 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e14 Research Gynecology 758.e15 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e16 Research Gynecology 758.e17 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e18 Research Gynecology 758.e19 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e20 Research Gynecology 758.e21 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e22 Research Gynecology 758.e23 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e24 Research Gynecology 758.e25 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e26 Research Gynecology 758.e27 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e28 Research Gynecology 758.e29 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e30 Research Gynecology 758.e31 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e32 Research Gynecology 758.e33 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e34 Research Gynecology 758.e35 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e36 Research Gynecology 758.e37 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e38 Research Gynecology 758.e39 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e40 Research Gynecology 758.e41 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e42 Research Gynecology 758.e43 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e44 Research Gynecology 758.e45 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e46 Research Gynecology 758.e47 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e48 Research Gynecology 758.e49 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e50 Research Gynecology 758.e51 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e52 Research Gynecology 758.e53 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology JUNE 2015 ajog.org ajog.org Gynecology Research Andersen. SAH vs TAH, RCT with 14 year follow-up. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015. JUNE 2015 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 758.e54