Pelvic organ prolapse: a review

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common medical problem in parous women. This condition usually refers to a combination of deficiencies of the pelvic organs as they relate to support mechanisms of the vaginal wall. Symptoms vary--an accurate diagnosis requires a careful and complete physical examination with attention directed toward the pelvis and perineum. Although many patients will not require surgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse, a comprehensive approach to repair in which all of the anatomic defects affecting support are addressed is necessary for successful treatment. Patients presenting with pelvic organ prolapse often provide some of the most complex, challenging, and rewarding cases in reconstructive pelvic surgery. This article addresses the definitions and classifications, prevalence and risk factors, and anatomy and pathophysiology relevant to pelvic organ prolapse. Discussion also includes diagnosis and approaches to management (surgical and nonsurgical) of anterior vaginal wall prolapse, cystourethrocele, apical vaginal prolapse, uterine prolapse and enterocele, posterior vaginal wall prolapse, rectocele, and pelvic floor relaxation and perineal laxity, with indications for and approaches to surgery, along with possible complications.     

Pelvic organ prolapse and the lower urinary tract: The relationship of vaginal prolapse to stress urinary incontinence

Vaginal prolapse and urinary incontinence frequently coexist. Rather than having a cause-and-effect relationship, these two common problems share etiologic factors. Specific tissue and functional deficiencies resulting in prolapse also are significant contributors to lower urinary tract symptoms, particularly stress urinary incontinence. This article reviews this relationship, the etiologic factors, and aspects of the clinical evaluation of the patient with prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.     

Management of pelvic organ prolapse

Symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse can afflict up to 10% of women. Urinary incontinence, voiding dysfunction or difficulty possibly related to bladder outlet obstruction are common symptoms. Infrequently hydronephrosis or defecatory dysfunction can be seen. The management of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) should start with adequate assessment of all pelvic floor complaints. If a patient is not symptomatic, surgical intervention is usually not indicated. While the use of a variety of graft materials are available today including porcine, dermal and synthetic grafts, that are used in some surgical approaches to pelvic organ prolapse, other more conservative approaches may prove beneficial to many patients. This article describes our approach to the patient with pelvic organ prolapse.     

Assessing and treating pelvic organ prolapse

At least half of all women who have given birth experience pelvic organ prolapse, a condition where pelvic organs protrude through the vagina. Because of the presentation of the different aspects of prolapse, treatment had become compartmentalized in line with pelvic involvement, with urologists, gynecologists, colorectal surgeons, and gastroenterologists each addressing their field of expertise. In addition, urinary or fecal incontinence, urinary retention, and urinary tract infections often are associated with pelvic organ prolapse. Both pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence have a significant impact on the quality of life. New training programs in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery are producing clinicians who are better equipped to treat pelvic organ prolapse, as well as related urinary and fecal incontinence. This article provides an overview of the various aspects of pelvic organ prolapse for all clinicians involved in assessment, treatment, and potential prevention of this condition.     

Uterus preservation in pelvic organ prolapse surgery

Attitudes to sexuality and the psychological value of reproductive organs have changed in Western countries over the last few decades. Nevertheless, repair of pelvic support defects with concomitant hysterectomy is still considered the standard treatment for pelvic organ prolapse. Over the last 10 years, however, interest has been growing in uterus-sparing surgery, which can be divided into vaginal, abdominal, and laparoscopic procedures. The majority of studies on uterus-sparing surgery, with the exception of abdominal techniques, report few cases with short follow-up. Sacrospinous hysteropexy is the most studied vaginal technique for uterus preservation and favorable results have been demonstrated, although the majority of studies are flawed by selection and information bias, short follow-up and lack of adequate control groups. Abdominal and laparoscopic procedures are promising, providing similar functional and anatomical results to hysterectomy and sacrocolpopexy. Consensus is growing that the uterus can be preserved at the time of pelvic reconstructive surgery in appropriately selected women who desire it. The results of comparison trials and prospective studies confirm that uterus-sparing surgery is feasible and is associated with similar outcomes to hysterectomy, as well as shorter operating times. Surgeons should be ready to respond to the wishes of female patients who want to preserve vaginal function and the uterus.     

Surgical innovations in pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence (UI) are common problems facing the geriatric woman. Many patients may find great benefit from medical or conservative treatments; however, surgical options are commonly used in many cases. This article examines the current medical and surgical innovations for POP and UI that have the potential to improve the patient's quality of life.     

中老年女性盆腔器官脱垂患者尿动力学检查106例临床分析

目的探讨女性盆腔脏器脱垂（pelvic organ prolapse,POP）的尿动力学特点,了解盆腔脏器脱垂与压力性尿失禁（stress urinary incontinence,SUI）的关系。方法对2006年1月至2009年12月在本院就诊的106例女性盆腔脏器脱垂患者,采用盆腔脏器脱垂评估分类法（pelvic organ prolapse quantitative examination,POP-Q）评估,并进行尿动力学检查,测定尿动力学参数,对结果进行统计学分析。结果 106例盆腔脏器脱垂患者中,合并SUI 76例（Ⅰ型SUI 36例,Ⅱ型24例,Ⅲ型16例）（71.7%,76/106）,混合性尿失禁10例（9.4%,10/106）。结论盆腔脏器脱垂与SUI密切相关。尿动力学检查在女性盆腔脏器脱垂的诊断治疗方面具有重要指导意义。     

老年女性盆腔器官脱垂的治疗进展

盆腔脏器脱垂指机体盆底肌肉、骨骼支持系统作用逐渐减弱,导致盆腔内直肠、子宫和膀胱等器官组织位置出现下移的一种疾病[1].其中女性盆腔脏器脱垂(pelvic organ prolapse,POP)作为常见类型之一,指盆腔器官在各种因素影响下导致盆底功能支持薄弱,进而造成盆腔脏器移位,从而自然脱出阴道外.     

单孔腹腔镜手术在妇科盆腔脏器脱垂疾病中的应用

盆腔脏器脱垂疾病是中老年女性的常见病,手术治疗是中重度盆腔脱垂的主要治疗方式。随着微创理念的发展,单孔腹腔镜手术已应用于女性盆腔脏器脱垂疾病。目前应用于盆腔脏器脱垂疾病的单孔腹腔镜手术方式有经脐单孔腹腔镜手术和机器人辅助单孔腹腔镜手术。该文对单孔腹腔镜手术在妇科盆腔脏器脱垂疾病中的应用现状进行综述。     

Management of recto-vaginal fistulas after prosthetic reinforcement treatment for pelvic organ prolapse

AIM: To communicate our findings on successful treat-ment of recto-vaginal fistulas (RVFs) after prosthetic reinforcement surgery of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). METHODS: A retrospective single center study between 1998 and 2008 was performed. A total of 80 patients with RVF were identified, of which five patients (6%), with a mean age of 65 years (range: 52-73), had undergone previous surgery for POP with pros-thetic reinforcement. RESULTS: All patients complained about ongoing vaginal infections and febri...     

Combined rectopexy and sacrocolpopexy is safe for correction of pelvic organ prolapse

Purpose

Pelvic floor abnormalities often affect multiple organs. The incidence of concomitant uterine/vaginal prolapse with rectal prolapse is at least 38%. For these patients, addition of sacrocolpopexy to rectopexy may be appropriate. Our aim was to determine if addition of sacrocolpopexy to rectopexy increases the procedural morbidity over rectopexy alone.

Methods

We utilized the ACS-NSQIP database to examine female patients who underwent rectopexy from 2005 to 2014. We compared patients who had a combined procedure (sacrocolpopexy and rectopexy) to those who had rectopexy alone. Thirty-day morbidity was compared and a multivariable model constructed to determine predictors of complications.

Results

Three thousand six hundred patients underwent rectopexy; 3394 had rectopexy alone while 206 underwent a combined procedure with the addition of sacrocolpopexy. Use of the combined procedure increased significantly from 2.6 to 7.7%. Overall morbidity did not differ between groups (14.8% rectopexy alone vs. 13.6% combined procedure, p?=?0.65). Significant predictors of morbidity included addition of resection to a rectopexy procedure, elevated BMI, smoking, wound class, and ASA class. After controlling for these and other patient factors, the addition of sacrocolpopexy to rectopexy did not increase overall morbidity (OR 1.00, p?=?0.98).

Conclusions

There is no difference in operative morbidity when adding sacrocolpopexy to a rectopexy procedure. Despite a modest increase in utilization of combined procedures over time, the overall rate remains low. These findings support the practice of multidisciplinary evaluation of patients presenting with rectal prolapse, with the goal of offering concurrent surgical correction for all compartments affected by pelvic organ prolapse disorders.

     

盆腔器官脱垂的动态MRI研究进展

盆腔器官脱垂(pelvic organ prolapse,POP)是指由于盆底支持结构薄弱导致的盆腔器官疝出.动态MRI为无放射性、无创、快捷、全面、高分辨率的检查方法,其软组织对比性强,可清晰显示静息位及动态位时盆底肌肉和筋膜组织结构及功能上的变化,了解盆腔多组织器官的状况,为临床提供客观影像学数据.动态MRI常用于...     

The epidemiology, social burden, and genetics of pelvic organ prolapse

Pelvic organ prolapse carries a significant social burden. The disease negatively affects the quality of life of afflicted patients and involves significant health care costs that are expected to increase over the next three decades. Socioeconomic and demographic factors are associated with the development of pelvic organ prolapse, but a growing body of evidence also suggests that genetic factors are involved in the development of the disease. This review summarizes the current understanding of the epidemiology, social burden, and genetics of pelvic organ prolapse.     

Point-counterpoint: Transvaginal placement of synthetic grafts to repair pelvic organ prolapse

An ever-growing, aging population increases demand for effective, minimally invasive surgeries for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). The most recent urogynecologic debate relates to the use of mesh kits for the transvaginal placement of synthetic grafts to surgically repair POP. Recent publications demonstrate improved outcomes compared with traditional endogenous tissue suture repairs, yet many question the use of these kits due to complications and lack of long-term related research. Some believe that proper technique and training enable patients to achieve durable outcomes with low morbidity via a minimally invasive, cost-effective surgical approach. However, because these kits are often used by novice surgeons with little understanding of pelvic floor anatomy and traditional repairs, others urge caution before their routine use and implementation. Further, some believe that surgeons must not always wait for robust level I support, but others insist that the medical community should encourage restraint and promote well-designed prospective studies comparing these kits to traditional repairs before subjecting patients to potentially harmful, ineffective products. This article presents arguments in favor and against transvaginal placement of synthetic grafts to repair POP.