Closed-suction drainage versus no drainage following radical abdominal hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy for stage IB cervical cancer.

Over a 7-year period from 1987 to 1994, 120 patients consecutive patients with FIGO stage IB invasive cervical cancer who underwent type 3 radical abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy had either Jackson-Pratt closed-suction drainage (Group 1, patients 1-60) or no drainage (Group 2, patients 61-120). All surgeries were performed by the author in a uniform manner. No increase in postoperative pelvic infection, fistula, or lymphocyst formation was noted in the group of patients with no drainage following radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy. Routine closed-suction drainage following radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy may be safely omitted.