Radical hysterectomy in cervical carcinoma stage Ib.

We present a retrospective analysis of the results of radical hysterectomy in 115 patients with Stage Ib cervical carcinoma. The recurrence frequency was 10% and the 5-year survival rate was 95%. The prognosis correlated with the presence of lymph node metastases which were found in 14%. The 5-year survival rate was 98% in patients without lymph node involvement and 78% in patients with pelvic lymph node metastases. The operative mortality was zero and the frequency of complications was low. Sixty-nine per cent of the patients had returned to work three months after the operation. Radical hysterectomy of stage Ib patients is recommended as the treatment of choice provided a proper preoperative selection is performed.