Current Clinical Practice Patterns in Total Vaginal Hysterectomy.

There are no data on current surgical practice patterns for benign total vaginal hysterectomy (TVH) despite recently published guidelines. The objective was to determine gynecologic surgeon practice patterns regarding TVH perioperative interventions and to assess adherence to clinical practice guidelines. A survey to assess TVH practice patterns was distributed to gynecologic surgical society members for completion. The primary outcome was to compare adherence to practice guidelines between fellowship-trained and non-fellowship-trained gynecologic surgeons. Secondary outcomes included comparing adherence based on age, practice location, and hysterectomy volume. Of the 204 respondents, there were 163 (80%) fellowship-trained and 41 (20%) non-fellowship-trained gynecologic surgeons. Fellowship-trained surgeons were more likely than non-fellowship-trained surgeons to use vaginal packing (34% vs 15%, This information demonstrates a need for the development of targeted education and interventions to increase the use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines during TVH for both fellowship-trained and non-fellowship-trained gynecologic surgeons.