Routine retroperitoneal drainage is not required for uncomplicated pelvic lymphadenectomy for uterine cancer.

Four hundred consecutive patients with endometrial carcinoma clinically confined to the corpus and cervix underwent extrafascial hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy by the author over an eight-year period of time. No patient had retroperitoneal drains, and only one patient (0.25%) developed a pelvic lymphocyst. Routine retroperitoneal drainage may be safely omitted in patients with uterine carcinoma undergoing hysterectomy and staging pelvic lymphadenctomy.