Pelvic organ prolapse surgery following hysterectomy on benign indications.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the risk for pelvic organ prolapse surgery attributed to hysterectomy on benign indications

STUDY DESIGN: In a nationwide longitudinal study, 162,488 women with hysterectomy from 1973 through 2003 were matched to 470,519 population-based control women. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using Cox regression analyses.

RESULTS: In all, 3.2% (n = 5270) of women with hysterectomy had pelvic organ prolapse surgery, compared with 2.0% (n = 9437) in nonhysterectomized controls. Compared with nonhysterectomized controls, the overall HR for prolapse surgery was 1.7 (95% CI, 1.6 to 1.7) with the highest risks observed in women having had a vaginal hysterectomy (HR 3.8; 95% CI, 3.1 to 4.8). Compared with hysterectomized women with no vaginal births, the HR for prolapse surgery was 2.0 (95% CI, 0.9 to 4.1) among women with 1 vaginal childbirth and 11.3 (95 % CI, 6.0. to 21.1) among women with at least 4 vaginal births.

CONCLUSION: Hysterectomy is associated with an increased risk for subsequent pelvic organ prolapse surgery with multiparous women at particular risk.