['Although growing evidence suggests the beneficial effects of a nerve-sparing (NS) approach to surgery in cervical cancer patients, only limited data on NS laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) are available, and no studies have investigated the effects of NS-LRH on sexual function.', 'This study aims to determine whether the implementation of NS-LRH impacts on sexual function in cervical cancer patients.', 'Sexually active cervical cancer patients undergoing type C (class III) LRH between 2004 and 2013 were enrolled in this prospective study.', 'Preoperative and postoperative sexual function were assessed using a validated questionnaire, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). The FSFI evaluates desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.', 'Forty patients undergoing radical hysterectomy (20 conventional LRH vs. 20 NS-LRH) represented the study group. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups (P\u2009>\u20090.05). No differences in preoperative FSFI scores were recorded (P\u2009>\u20090.05). We observed that both LRH and NS-LRH worsened postoperative FSFI scores (P\u2009<\u20090.001). However, patients undergoing NS-LRH had higher postoperative FSFI scores than patients undergoing LRH (21.3\u2009±\u20099.4 vs. 14.2\u2009±\u200912.5; P\u2009=\u20090.04). Considering postoperative domain scores, we observed that desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain scores were similar between groups (P\u2009>\u20090.05), while patients undergoing NS-LRH experienced higher lubrication (3.4\u2009±\u20092.3 vs. 1.7\u2009±\u20092.2; P\u2009=\u20090.02) and satisfaction (4.6\u2009±\u20093.9 vs. 2.8\u2009±\u20092.2; P\u2009=\u20090.004) scores in comparison with patients undergoing conventional LRH. No between-group differences in survival outcomes were found.'] Does nerve-sparing approach reduce sexual dysfunction in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical hysterectomy?