Application of transvaginal sacrospinous colpopexy in the treatment of pelvic organs prolapse

Abstract

Introduction. The incidence of uterovaginal and vaginal vault prolapse appears to be higher due to the increased longevity of women. Sacrospinous ligament colpopexy is a surgery procedure which suspends the vagina up to the sacrospinous ligament and brings upper vagina over the levator plate. This technique is very useful for the primary treatment of uterovaginal prolapse in young women who want to preserve their fertility. The main aim of our study was to present the effectiveness of the us of this technique at our clinic, to investigate the possible intraoperative and postoperative complications of this technique, and to find out its effectiveness in the prevention of repeated vaginal vault prolapse. Methods. Patients were treated with sacrospinous colpopexy with uterine conservation, vaginal hysterectomy with simultaneous sacrospinous colpopexy or obliteration of the enterocele sac, and sacrospinous colpopexy. Follow-up examinations of the patients we performed at 4 weeks, 6 months and 12 months after the surgery and yearly thereafter. Results. Thirtyseven women were treated with sacrospinous ligament suspension of vaginal vault. The 5 women had vault prolapse following the hysterectomy (the 3 of then had abdominal, and the 2 vaginal hysterectomy), and another 32 women had the various degrees of uterovaginal prolapse. We obtained satisfactory results in 33 patients, in the 3 we noticed asymptomatic cystocele, and the 1 (2,7%) had partial vaginal vault prolapse six months after the surgery. With regard to postoperative complications, 3 patients had urination disturbance, 3 patients had urinary tract infection, 2 patients had febrile temperature, and the 2 patients had low back pain. Discussion. We performed sacrospinous fixation on the right side, and the postoperative results demonstrated no disturbance in vaginal axis and vault prolapse except in 1 patient. We had no intraoperative complications noted related to sacrospinous ligament colpopexy, such as the damage to the pudendal vessels and nerve, the sciatic nerve and rectum. The possibility of injury to the vessels and nearby nerves was preventid with the careful placement of suture through the sacrospinous ligament in the two fingerbreadths medial to its insertion in the ischial spine. In our series, we had 3 patients with conservation of the uterus. The 3 asymptomatic cystocele in our series were diagnosed 6 months after the operation. Our results were satisfactory, since we hade only one postoperative vault prolapse (2,7%). Conclusion. The results of numerous studies, as well as the results of our study, showed that transvaginal sacrospinous colpopexy could be performed along with vaginal hysterectomy and the anterior and posterior vaginal wall repair in the patients with uterovaginal prolapse because of its high success in the prevention of postoperative vaginal vault prolapse and the low intra- and postoperative complication rates. This operative technique is successful in prevention of repeated vaginal vault prolapse.

Keywords

• uterine prolapse
• gynecologic surgical procedures
• postoperative complications