Vaginal hysterectomy: past, present, and future.

Progress has been made in the following aspects of vaginal hysterectomy: improvement of technique and reduction of the incidence of febrile morbidity, the length of hospitalization, and the postoperative retention of urine with associated repair. Vaginal hysterectomy should continue to have its widest application in women whose childbearing is complete and who have incapacitating hypermenorrhea and dysmenorrhea with or without small uterine leiomyomas or adenomyosis.