Ovarian artery clamp: initial experience with a new clamp to reduce bleeding at open myomectomy.

We studied the effect of novel ovarian artery clamps on intraoperative bleeding in 46 women undergoing open myomectomy for large fibroids. The clamps were applied medial to the ovaries to occlude uterine blood flow from the ovarian arteries without compressing the fallopian tubes, and were used in conjunction with a pericervical tourniquet. Myomectomy was completed successfully in all patients, and an average of 10 fibroids weighing 588 g were removed per patient. The clamps could be applied bilaterally in all but three cases. In the 45 women when at least one ovarian artery clamp was used, the intraoperative blood loss averaged 500 ml, which was comparable with historic data with conventional tourniquets. Ovarian artery clamps appear to be as effective as tourniquets applied to the infundibulopelvic ligaments in reducing bleeding at open myomectomy but have the advantage that they do not occlude ovarian perfusion or crush the fallopian tubes.