Movie: Doderlein-Kronig vaginal hysterectomy
Vaginal hysterectomy is the actually the oldest type of hysterectomy. For a variety of reasons, abdominal hysterectomy became the standard route of surgery except in cases of uterovaginal prolapse, and in most hospitals, only 20-30% of hysterectomies are now done vaginally. However, there is now good evidence that in terms of operating time, complications, cost and recovery, vaginal hysterectomy is the optimum procedure in most situations when the uterus has to be excised. Most vaginal hysterectomies are done using a Heaney technique, named after a famous American gynaecologist, but the the Doderlein-Kronig operation, which was first described in the early 1990's, is an intereresting variant which allows a subtotal hysterectomy to be done without the need for laparotomy or laparoscopy. In this case, a total vaginal hysterectomy was carried out.