Development of de novo prolapse in untreated vaginal compartments after prolapse repair with and without mesh: a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the de novo prolapse rate in the untreated vaginal compartments following conventional vaginal prolapse repair and tension-free vaginal mesh repair.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

SETTING: Thirteen centres in the Netherlands.

POPULATION: Women with recurrent pelvic organ prolapse stage II or higher.

METHODS: Random assignment to either conventional vaginal native tissue repair or vaginal mesh insertion.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: de novo pelvic organ prolapse stage II or higher in the untreated vaginal compartments at 12 months after surgery.

SECONDARY OUTCOMES: de novo pelvic organ prolapse at and beyond the hymen, de novo prolapse beyond the hymen and prolapse domain scores of the Urogenital Distress Inventory.

RESULTS: At 12 months ten of 59 women (17%) in the conventional group versus 29 of 62 women (47%) in the mesh group were diagnosed with a de novo pelvic organ prolapse stage II or higher in the untreated compartment (P < 0.001, odds ratio 4.3, 95% confidence interval 1.9-10.0). Additional apical support to a mesh-augmented anterior repair significantly reduced the de novo prolapse rate. Women with a de novo prolapse in the mesh-treated group demonstrated significantly higher mean bother scores on the domain genital prolapse of the Urogenital Distress Inventory score (13.1 ± 24.2) compared with those without de novo prolapse (2.9 ± 13.9) (P = 0.03).

CONCLUSION: Mesh-augmented prolapse repair in only one vaginal compartment is associated with a higher de novo prolapse rate in the untreated compartments compared with conventional vaginal native tissue repair in women with recurrent pelvic organ prolapse.