Obstetric and gynecologic operations in the United States, 1979 to 1984.

An in-depth analysis of numbers of obstetric and gynecologic operations from 1979 to 1984 was performed using data from the National Center for Health Statistics. During the study period, there was a decrease in total numbers of obstetric and gynecologic procedures of 1%. During the same five-year period the numbers of physicians who label themselves as obstetrician-gynecologists increased 22%. In 1983, a total of 809,000 cesarean sections were performed. It has become the most common hospital-based operation in this country. Twenty-one percent of all live births are now by cesarean section. The second most common obstetric and gynecologic operation is hysterectomy (673,000), and diagnostic dilation and curettage of uterus (632,000) third. These operations are also the second and third most common procedures performed in the United States. In 1983, obstetric and gynecologic operations represented 23% of all surgery completed in this country. These figures demonstrate the dynamics of obstetric and gynecologic surgical practice. They show that numbers of obstetric and gynecologic operations have decreased over the last five years, in spite of constantly increasing numbers of obstetrician-gynecologists. If current trends continue, future individual operative workloads, on average, will decrease with possible adverse effects on quality of obstetric-gynecologic surgical care.