Intramyometrial vasopressin as a haemostatic agent during myomectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of intramyometrial vasopressin for minimising bleeding and its sequelae at myomectomy.

DESIGN: A randomised placebo controlled trial.

SETTING: University Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.

SUBJECTS: Twenty women with symptomatic uterine fibroids scheduled for myomectomy who satisfied entry criteria: 10 randomised to the vasopressin group and 10 to the control group.

INTERVENTION: Myomectomy was performed after the intramyometrial injection of either 20 units vasopressin diluted to 20 ml in normal saline or placebo (20 ml normal saline).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The efficacy of vasopressin was measured by comparing pre- and post-operative haemoglobin levels and haematocrit, changes in intra-operative pulse and blood pressure, measured blood loss, need for blood transfusion and post-operative febrile morbidity in the treatment and control groups.

RESULTS: The use of vasopressin resulted in median blood loss of 225 ml (range 150-400 ml) compared with 675 ml (range 500-800 ml) in the placebo group (P < 0.001). The vasopressin group had a correspondingly lower fall in haemoglobin level (median 1.7 g/dl vs 5.3 g/dl, P < 0.001) and haematocrit (median 5% vs 13%, P < 0.001) compared with the controls. Fifty percent of the placebo group had blood transfusions compared with none in the vasopressin group (P = 0.03). There were no significant differences between the groups in intra-operative pulse and blood pressure or post-operative white blood cell counts or temperature.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that vasopressin is effective in preventing blood loss and reducing the need for blood transfusion during myomectomy.