*2.1.2 Incidence rate of postoperative bleeding*

Although the incidence of postoperative hemorrhage basically varies according to surgery, the difference between abdominal, laparoscopic, and vaginal hysterectomy remains statistically insignificant [5–7]. Indeed, some authors postulate that postoperative bleeding occurs more frequently after abdominal and laparoscopic than after vaginal hysterectomy, but overall, the incidence of hemorrhagic events after a hysterectomy varies from 0.2 to 3.1%, irrespective of surgical route [5–8, 10, 13, 14].

On the other hand, the true frequency of delayed bleeding complications is still unknown, although the consequences can be particularly significant in women undergoing outpatient surgery [5–8, 10, 13, 14]. Paul et al. reported an overall cumulative incidence of secondary hemorrhage after a total laparoscopic hysterectomy of 1.3% [5]. Although secondary hemorrhage is rare, it is more often reported after total laparoscopic hysterectomy than after other hysterectomy approaches [5–8, 10, 13, 14].

**Table 1** summarizes data on the incidence of postoperative hemorrhage reported by several authors.
