Minimally invasive surgery for cervical cancer

Minimally invasive surgery in the treatment of early-stage cervical cancer is debatable. Traditional colpotomy approaches are said to be associated with inferior oncological outcomes. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers compared the oncological outcomes of patients treated with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy with protective colpotomy to those treated with open surgery. Inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials or observational studies, studies comparing minimally invasive radical hysterectomy with protective colpotomy to abdominal radical hysterectomy in early-stage cervical cancer, and studies comparing survival outcomes. A total of 8 retrospective cohort studies with 2020 women were included in the study, including 821 in the minimally invasive surgery group and 1199 in the open surgery group.