The perioperative and postoperative courses of hysterectomy with or without bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were compared for 10 women who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and 10 who underwent laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy. Although laparoscopic hysterectomy took longer (160 versus 102 minutes), the women undergoing it had a shorter duration of hospitalization (2.4 versus 4.4 days), more rapid recuperation (3 versus 5 weeks) and fewer complications. These preliminary results suggest that in the hands of experienced operative laparoscopists, laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy is preferable to abdominal hysterectomy for selected candidates.