Sexual function in women before and after transvaginal mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapse

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess sexual function in women before and after surgery with transvaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse. Women were invited to complete a sexual function questionnaire including the Lemack and the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaires (PISQ-12) before undergoing surgery and 1 year after surgery. Eighty-three complete pre and postoperative questionnaires were analyzed. Mean age was 65.1 years. Forty-six were sexually inactive and 37 were sexually active women. Two sexually active women completed the preoperative PISQ-12 questionnaire retrospectively after surgery. There were no significant differences after surgery in the answers to the Lemack questionnaire and PISQ-12 scores. These results suggest that nonabsorbable transvaginal mesh repair of genital prolapse does not impair sexual function 1 year after surgery. Nevertheless, patients should not necessarily expect a significant improvement in sexual function outcome following transvaginal mesh repair for genital prolapse.

Cystocele repair by vaginal route: comparison of three different surgical techniques of mesh placement

“…Concerning sexual activity, the mesh does not seem to have a negative impact. This is coherent with the results recently published by Sentilhes et al [16].…”

Analysis of changes in sexual function in women undergoing pelvic organ prolapse repair with abdominal or vaginal approaches

“…Currently, the evidence regarding sexual function and rates of dyspareunia following surgical repair of POP varies widely. Some studies have shown a decline in sexual function [10,11], whereas others have shown no change [12,13] or improvement [14][15][16]. In a study by Altman et al [10 they noted an approximately 15 % rate of dyspareunia before surgery, which decreased to 12 % in those with anterior vaginal mesh repairs.…”

Sexual function and health-related quality of life following anterior vaginal wall surgery for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse

“…Previous studies showed deteriorations in sexual function of 14-20% in SUI patients and 21.6-26.0% in POP patients. 15,[24][25][26] Deterioration in sexual function occurred more frequently in the present study (27.6% in the SUI group and 40.6% in the POP group) compared with the published literature. Cultural factors and study methodology may have contributed to this difference.…”

“…18,22-24 Sentilhes et al 24 evaluated FSF with POP by both the Lemack and the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaires in a prospective study and showed that the results of the Lemack questionnaire was concordant with the validated Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaires. For this reason, we applied the Lemack questionnaire to both SUI and POP patients.…”