Center for Health Statistics
Texas Health Care Information Collection
Utilization Review: Specific Inpatient Procedures by Texas Hospital Referral Region, 2010
 A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of a woman's uterus. It is often performed on patients suffering from recurrent uterine bleeding, chronic pelvic pain or menopause, usually in some combination.
Why is this measure important?
Hysterectomy has been identified as a potentially over-used procedure and practitioners disagree about the clinical indications for which it might be necessary. AHRQ notes that, at present there is no evidence to show that hysterectomy improves outcomes for patients with uncertain clinical indications. Therefore, AHRQ suggests that a hysterectomy rate closer to the average may be an indication of higher quality.
Why might there be variation?
Hysterectomy is a procedure for which one commonly finds regional variations even when patient characteristics are controlled for. Some of this variation may be a reflection of local referral patterns or local clinical practice. Patient and physician preference may also play a role in the choice of a hysterectomy.
What does this measure tell us?
The graphs and tables in this section show:
These measures are calculated by comparing the total number of women over age 18 discharged from a hospital who had a hysterectomy with in female population in the hospital referral region. The numerator excludes cases where the patient had a hysterectomy because of genital cancer or pelvic or lower abdominal trauma. Any inpatient discharges related to pregnancy and childbirth were also excluded.
Hysterectomy has been identified as a potentially over-used procedure, and therefore, more average rates may represent better quality care.
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