Functional and anatomic follow-up of enterocele repairs

OBJECTIVE: To identify the functional and anatomic outcomes in women who ha ve surgery for pelvic organ prolapse with enterocele repair. METHODS: Fifty-four women had surgery for pelvic organ prolapse which inclu ded enterocele repair. Preoperative and postoperative examinations were don e by a research nurse, including a pelvic examination using the Internation al Continence Society staging system and standardized questionnaires about bowel function, sexual function, and prolapse symptoms. RESULTS: Fifty-four women had enterocele repairs as part of their surgery. Mean follow-up time was 16 months (range 6 -29 months). Postoperatively fiv e women were excluded from the analysis because of fluctuation in stage of prolapse over time. At the apex and posterior wall of the vagina, 33 women had. stage 0 or 1 prolapse, and 16 had stage II prolapse. None had stage II I or IV prolapse. Fifty-three percent of women had improvement in bowel fun ction and 91% had improvement in vaginal prolapse symptoms. Functional outc omes were not significantly different in women with and without stage II pr olapse at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Most women who had surgery for pelvic organ prolapse with enter ocele repair reported improvement in vaginal prolapse symptoms. Functional outcomes did not differ significantly between women with stage 0 and I prol apse and women with stage II prolapse at the vaginal apex and posterior vag inal wall. This was an observational study and the lack of statistically si gnificant findings could result from inadequate sample size; however, the o bserved differences were judged to be not clinically significant. (C) 2001 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.