Bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis vaginitis are risk factors for cuff cellulitis after abdominal hysterectomy.

To assess the relationship between either bacterial vaginosis or trichomoniasis vaginitis and posthysterectomy infection, preoperative evaluation of the vaginal secretions was performed in 161 women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy. Thirty-two patients (19.9%) and 27 patients (16.8%), respectively, met the diagnostic criteria for bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis vaginitis. Patients with either bacterial vaginosis or trichomoniasis vaginitis were more likely than control subjects to have cuff cellulitis, cuff abscess, or both (relative risk 3.2, 95% confidence interval 1.5 to 6.7 for bacterial vaginosis; relative risk 3.4, 95% confidence interval 1.6 to 7.1 for trichomoniasis vaginitis). Preoperative vaginitis had no effect with respect to the incidence of postoperative wound infection, urinary tract infection, or intravenous line phlebitis. Bacteroides sp., Peptostreptococcus sp., and/or Gardnerella vaginalis ("bacterial vaginosis organisms") were isolated from the vaginal cuff in the majority of patients with postoperative cuff cellulitis. Bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis vaginitis are risk factors for the development of posthysterectomy cuff cellulitis.