Vaginal Cuff Dehiscence in Transgender Patients After Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy

Abstract

Study ObjectiveTo compare rates of vaginal cuff dehiscence in transgender patients with cisgender patients after minimally invasive hysterectomy DesignWe performed a single-surgeon, retrospective cohort analysis comparing the rates of vaginal cuff dehiscence in patients undergoing minimally invasive hysterectomy for gender affirmation versus other indications (benign, malignant, prophylactic) with our study surgeon between January, 2015, and December, 2021. SettingMajor, urban, academic tertiary care hospital in the United States. Patients166 patients met inclusion criteria with 49 (29.5%) of those patients undergoing MIH for gender affirmation. Of the remaining 117 patients, 92 (78.6%) underwent MIH for cancer, 15 (12.8%) for prophylaxis, and 10 (8.5%) for benign indications. InterventionsN/A MeasurementsWe assessed included patients for baseline demographics, presence of risk factors for vaginal cuff dehiscence, details of index hysterectomy, and details of cuff dehiscence events. Main ResultsTransgender patients tended to be younger at the time of surgery, but demographics were otherwise similar between both groups. Most transgender patients (n=36, 73.5%) had both ovaries removed at the time of hysterectomy, 100% were on testosterone therapy pre- and post-operatively, and none used supplementary estrogen. Three of the 49 transgender patients (6.1%) experienced postoperative dehiscence of the vaginal cuff compared with two (1.7%) of the 117 cisgender patients. This failed to reach statistical significance, however our descriptive analysis showed that all cases of dehiscence in the cisgender group had identifiable precipitating factors (i.e. trauma). By comparison, all cases of dehiscence in the transgender group were spontaneous with few identifiable risk factors. ConclusionTransgender patients undergoing MIH may be at increased risk for VCD, though the rarity of this surgical complication precluded determination of statistical significance in our data set. We propose testosterone exposure as a possible risk factor for vaginal cuff dehiscence, though we cannot exclude other factors, such as young age, as drivers of VCD in this population. Future studies of biospecimens are needed to evaluate for cellular differences in these patients.