Complete salpingectomy versus tubal ligation during cesarean section: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Feasibility, Safety, and Provider Perspectives of Bipolar Electrosurgical Cautery Device for (Opportunistic or Complete) Salpingectomy at the Time of Cesarean Delivery

OBJECTIVE

 The aim of the study is to evaluate the use of a bipolar electrocautery device for complete salpingectomy at cesarean to improve procedure completion rates, operative time, and surgeon reported satisfaction as compared with standard bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) and suture-cut-tie salpingectomy.

STUDY DESIGN

 This is a prospective cohort study of women undergoing planned, non-emergent cesarean with desired sterilization with complete salpingectomy utilizing a bipolar electrocautery device. Study patients were compared with historic controls from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of complete salpingectomy via suture-cut-tie method versus BTL conducted at our institution (SCORE trial, NCT02374827). Outcomes were compared with groups from the original RCT.

RESULTS

 Thirty-nine women were consecutively enrolled (12/2018-11/2019) into the device arm of the study and compared with the original SCORE cohort (n = 40 BTL, n = 40 salpingectomy without a device). Salpingectomy performance with the bipolar electrocautery device was successfully completed in 100% (39/39) of enrolled women, with one device failure requiring the use of a second device, as compared with 95% (38/40) in the BTL (p = 0.49) and 67.5% (27/40) in salpingectomies without a device (p < 0.001). Mean operative time of sterilization procedure alone demonstrated device use as having the shortest operative time of all (device salpingectomy 5.0 ± 3.6 vs. no device 18.5 ± 8.3 minutes, p < 0.001; and vs. BTL 6.9 ± 5.0, p = 0.032). Mean sterilization procedure endoscopic band ligation (EBL) was demonstrated to be significantly different between each group, least amongst BTL followed by device (6.3 ± 4.8 vs. 8.4 ± 24.8, p < 0.001), and most by suture-cut-tie method (17.7 ± 14.3, p < 0.001 compared with device). Surgeon reported attitudes of complete salpingectomy performance in general practice outside an academic setting was greater with a device than without (79.5 vs. 35.3%; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

 Use of a bipolar electrocautery device improved operative times and surgeon satisfaction for salpingectomy at cesarean over standard suture ligation. Device use improved surgeon reported outcomes and may improve incorporation of complete salpingectomy at cesarean.

KEY POINTS

· Electrocautery bipolar device use was safe at the time of salpingectomy during cesarean.. · Greater surgeon satisfaction occurs using a device than without.. · Decreased surgical time with device use is seen making the procedure equal to BTL..

Effect of salpingectomy versus tubal ligation on postoperative wound infection in patients: A meta-analysis

After several institutions recommended salpingectomy as opposed to tubal ligation, we attempted to perform meta-analysis to compare operative properties and rates of postoperative wound infections. There are no temporal or linguistic limitations to our search in PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase. The search was carried out in September 2023. The database search identified 401 potential studies and five studies were included in the meta-analysis. Our study involved a comparison of salpingectomy with tube ligating in female patients who wanted to be sterilized. Our trial included at least one result of the wound and haemorrhage. The articles that did not qualify for inclusion or did not submit data, and those who did not answer questions were excluded. Abstracts and full-text articles were assessed independently by two authors using blinding. Conflicting decisions were settled by consensus. The Cochrane-recommended ROBINS-I instrument has been applied to evaluate the risk of bias in clinical trials and to establish the quality of inclusion. Two authors separately evaluated the risk of bias for each trial; differences were settled by consensus. There were no statistically significant differences in the rate of postoperative wound infections among those who had received salpingectomy or tubal ligation (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.18-1.20 p = 0.11). In the three trials, the risk of bleeding following the ligation of the fallopian tubes was lower than that of the salpingectomy group (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.21-1.30 p < 0.0001). From this information we have come to the conclusion that it is possible to give preference to tubal ligation for reduction of bleeding in suitable circumstances, and that the findings currently do not provide sufficient evidence for a reduction in the risk of postoperative wound infection.

Beyond Sterilization: A Comprehensive Review on the Safety and Efficacy of Opportunistic Salpingectomy as a Preventative Strategy for Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer (OC) is Canada's third most common gynecological cancer, with an estimated 3000 new cases and 1950 deaths projected in 2022. No effective screening has been found to identify OC, especially the most common subtype, high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC), at an earlier, curable stage. In patients with hereditary predispositions such as BRCA mutations, the rates of HGSC are significantly elevated, leading to the use of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy as the key preventative intervention. Although surgery has been shown to prevent HGSC in high-risk women, the associated premature menopause has adverse long-term sequelae and mortality due to non-cancer causes. The fact that 75% of HGSCs are sporadic means that most women diagnosed with HGSC will not have had the option to avail of either screening or prevention. Recent research suggests that the fimbrial distal fallopian tube is the most likely origin of HGSC. This has led to the development of a prevention plan for the general population: opportunistic salpingectomy, the removal of both fallopian tubes. This article aims to compile and review the studies evaluating the effect of opportunistic salpingectomy on surgical-related complications, ovarian reserve, cost, and OC incidence when performed along with hysterectomy or instead of tubal ligation in the general population.

First step in implementation of opportunistic salpingectomy for prevention of ovarian cancer: Current care and its determinants

INTRODUCTION

Opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) refers to additional removal of the fallopian tubes during abdominal surgery performed for another medical indication, as prevention for ovarian cancer. As OS has been inconsistently implemented, its clinical practice varies worldwide. To reduce this variation, insight is required into current clinical practice and its determinants. Therefore, the study aim was to determine the implementation of counseling and performance of OS between 2015 and 2018, and its patient, surgical, physician, and hospital characteristics.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Retrospective study using electronic medical records from six different Dutch hospitals: two academic, two large teaching, and two non-teaching hospitals. Patients were considered eligible for OS if they underwent elective non-obstetric abdominal surgery for a gynecological indication from January 2015 through December 2018. Primary outcomes were uptake of counseling and performance of OS. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify characteristics associated with OS.

RESULTS

A total of 3214 patients underwent elective non-obstetric abdominal surgery for a gynecological indication and were eligible for OS. Counseling on OS increased significantly from 2.9% in 2015 to 29.4% in 2018. In this period, 440 patients were counseled on OS, of which 95.9% chose OS. Performance of OS increased significantly from 6.9% in 2015 to 44.5% in 2018. Counseling for and performance of OS were more likely in patients who had surgery by laparoscopic approach, were counseled by a gynecological resident, or had more than three contact moments before surgery. Additionally, OS was less likely in patients who had vaginal surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the uptake of OS increased from 2015 to 2018, the majority of patients who were eligible for OS were not counseled and did not undergo OS. Its clinical practice varies on patient, surgery, and physician characteristics. Therefore, an implementation strategy tailored to associated determinants is recommended.

Salpingectomy, tubal ligation and hysteroscopic occlusion for sterilization

INTRODUCTION

Sterilization of females is considered one of the most prevalent contraceptive techniques among women in the United States. There are many surgical sterilization procedures including salpingectomy, tubal ligation, and hysteroscopic occlusion of the fallopian tubes. We provide an overview of these methods from the clinical data and latest studies available on this topic.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

In order to review the latest literature on the topic, we searched electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane library for all eligible studies from May 1st 2018 until May 1st 2022 using the following strategy: ("fallopian tube removal" OR Salpingectomy OR "fallopian tube excision" OR "tubal sterilization") AND ("tubal ligation" OR "bipolar coagulation" OR "tubal clip" OR "tubal ring" OR fimbriectomy). We reviewed every study that met our criteria and subjectively considered their results and methodology into this narrative review.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

In addition to reviewing major guidelines in the United States, 19 recent studies met our eligibility criteria and were included in this review. We grouped the findings under the following headings: anatomical and physiological considerations, sterilization, salpingectomy, tubal ligation, and hysteroscopic tubal occlusion.

CONCLUSIONS

Bilateral salpingectomy and techniques of tubal ligation or occlusion continue to be effective procedures with good safety profiles. All techniques have similar surgical outcomes and long-term success rates. As salpingectomy has the advantage of reducing the risk of occurrence of ovarian cancer, this is preferential when feasible. Hysteroscopic occlusion techniques may be more minimally invasive but have the disadvantages of delayed efficacy, the need for a second invasive diagnostic procedure, and limited availability.

Current Resources for Evidence-Based Practice, March 2022

An extensive review of new resources to support the provision of evidence-based care for women and infants. The current column includes a discussion of systemic racism and its effect on maternal health in the United States and commentaries on reviews focused on barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccination and delayed cord clamping in preterm infants.

Paradigm shift from tubal ligation to opportunistic salpingectomy at cesarean delivery in the United States

BACKGROUND

Opportunistic salpingectomy is now recommended at the time of routine gynecologic surgery to reduce the risk of future ovarian cancer, and performance of opportunistic salpingectomy has increased markedly at the time of benign hysterectomy. Salpingectomy has also been suggested to be feasible at the time of cesarean delivery in women desiring sterilization; however, uptake has not been previously studied on a national level.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine recent population trends in the utilization and characteristics of salpingectomy at the time of cesarean delivery in the United States.

STUDY DESIGN

This is a population-based retrospective observational study querying the National Inpatient Sample between October 2015 and December 2018. The primary outcome measure was the temporal trend of bilateral salpingectomy at cesarean delivery, assessed with linear segmented regression with log transformation utilizing 3-month time increments. The secondary outcome measures included patient characteristics associated with bilateral salpingectomy, assessed with a multinomial regression model, and surgical outcome (hemorrhage, blood transfusion, hysterectomy, and oophorectomy) at the time of bilateral salpingectomy vs bilateral tubal ligation, assessed with generalized estimating equation in a propensity score-matched model.

RESULTS

There were 3,813,823 women at the age of 15 to 49 years who had cesarean deliveries included, of whom 397,260 (10.4%) had bilateral salpingectomy and 203,400 (5.3%) had bilateral tubal ligation overall. During the time period studied, performance of bilateral salpingectomy among women undergoing cesarean delivery significantly increased from 4.6% to 13.2% (odds ratio for the fourth quarter of 2018 vs the fourth quarter of 2015, 2.69; 95% confidence interval, 2.63-2.75; Figure panel). In contrast, performance of bilateral tubal ligation among women undergoing cesarean delivery significantly decreased from 11.3% to 2.4% (odds ratio, 0.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-0.21). By the third quarter of 2016, the number of women who had bilateral salpingectomy exceeded those who had bilateral tubal ligation at cesarean delivery (8.6% vs 7.3%). Increasing the utilization of bilateral salpingectomy did not vary across age groups; the salpingectomy rate increased from 7.5% to 21.1% among women at the age of ≥35 years and from 3.8% to 10.7% among women at the age of <35 years (both, P<.001). In a propensity score matched model, women in the bilateral salpingectomy group were more likely to have hemorrhage (3.8% vs 3.1%; odds ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.33), blood product transfusion (2.1% vs 1.8%; odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.30), hysterectomy (0.8% vs 0.4%; odds ratio, 2.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.84-2.82), and oophorectomy (0.3% vs 0.2%; odds ratio, 2.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.47-2.79) than those in the bilateral tubal ligation group. When restricted to the nonhysterectomy cases, the bilateral salpingectomy group had a higher rate of hemorrhage (3.4% vs 3.0%; odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.26) and oophorectomy (0.3% vs 0.1%; odds ratio, 1.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-2.50) than the bilateral tubal ligation group.

CONCLUSION

In the United States, the utilization of bilateral salpingectomy at the time of cesarean delivery increased rapidly between 2015 and 2018, replacing tubal ligation as the most common type of sterilization performed with cesarean delivery. The higher surgical morbidity in the bilateral salpingectomy group than the bilateral tubal ligation group observed in this study warrants further investigation.

Patients' perceptions toward and the driving factors of decision-making for opportunistic bilateral salpingectomy at the time of cesarean section

Objective:

Enough data can be found in the literature regarding the protective effect of tubal ligation on gynecological cancers. In addition, a large body of evidence revealed that prophylactic bilateral salpingectomy had no significant negative effect on the ovarian function, quality of life, sexuality, surgery duration, and cost-effectivity. This study was aimed at exploring the underlying factors that motivate women for either opportunistic bilateral salpingectomy (OBS) or tubal ligation, particularly focusing on their preferences, knowledge, and beliefs toward female sterilization, satisfaction from counseling, and body image following the salpingectomy.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 54 patients who had undergone surgical sterilization with either OBS or tubal ligation were included in this prospective cohort study. The acceptance rate of the OBS at the time of cesarean section among pregnant women seeking surgical sterilization was calculated. The underlying reasons for women’s acceptance or refusal for salpingectomy were assessed by a non-validated data collection tool that had 14 open-ended questions focusing on the women’s preferences, knowledge, beliefs toward female sterilization, satisfaction from counseling, and body image following the salpingectomy.

Results:

The acceptance rate of OBS at the time of cesarean section among pregnant women and electively among non-pregnant women were 93.5% (n=43/46) and 75% (6/8), respectively. The main driving factors influencing the decision of preferring OBS over tubal ligation were the risk-reducing effect for ovarian cancer and superior pregnancy prevention.

Conclusion:

The acceptance rate of OBS at the time of cesarean section was found to be very high, and it should therefore be offered at the time of cesarean section to women who desire permanent contraception.

Tubal ligation during cesarean delivery and future risk for ovarian cancer: a population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Data regarding the effect of post-partum bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) on future risk for ovarian cancer (OC) is lacking. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of BTL during cesarean delivery (CD) on the long-term risk for OC.

STUDY DESIGN

A population-based cohort analysis of women above the age of 35 that underwent CD in their last delivery, comparing the long-term risk for OC between patients that had a Pomeroy excisional BTL and those that did not. OC diagnosis was pre-defined based on ICD-9 codes. Procedures occurred between the years 1991-2017. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to compare the cumulative incidence of OC over time and Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to control for confounders.

RESULTS

During the study period 13,124 women met the inclusion criteria; 9438 (71.9%) of which had only CD and 3686 (28.1%) underwent CD with BTL. Despite the significantly higher incidence of maternal factors that might increase the long-term risk for OC in the BTL group (advanced maternal age, obesity, hypertensive diseases during pregnancy and diabetes mellitus), the cumulative incidence of OC cases was not significantly different between the two groups (Log-rank test p = 0.199). Likewise, when performing a Cox regression model controlling for maternal age, obesity, hypertensive diseases and diabetes, OC risk was not significantly different between the groups (adjusted HR 2.36, 95% CI 0.73-7.62; p = 0.149).

CONCLUSION

Despite an increased incidence of known risk factors for OC, patients that underwent BTL during CD did not have increased long-term risk for OC.