Long-term follow-up of native tissue anterior vaginal wall repair: does the POP-Q stage really reflect patients’ satisfaction rate?

Introduction Anterior colporrhaphy (AC) is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures for pelvic organ prolapse treatment; however, there are only few data in the literature regarding its long-term outcomes. Our aim was to assess the long-term efficacy and satisfaction rate after AC. Methods Patients who underwent AC at our institution from 2011 to 2014 were invited to this follow-up study, which took place in January–February 2019. Medical history and gynaecological examination with POP-Q assessment were performed. Patients filled out validated questionnaires UIQ-7, CRAIQ-7, POPIQ-7, PFIQ-7, POPDI-6, CRADI-8, and UDI-6 and evaluated their satisfaction with the procedure. Objective success was defined as anterior wall prolapse stage 0 or 1 assessed by the POP-Q system. Subjective success was defined as the absence of bulging sensation or a sense of falling out that can be felt or seen in the vaginal area. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. Results Seventy out of 137 (51.1%) patients attended the follow-up. Mean follow-up period up was 74.1 ± 12.6 months. Two patients were excluded from the analysis because they had another surgical procedure due to central compartment prolapse. Of the remaining patients, 50 had AC and 18 had AC and posterior colporrhaphy (PC). Objective success rate was 13.2% and subjective success rate was 68.7%. Almost all patients (98.5%) were satisfied with the procedure. In the group of patients with objective recurrence, 66.1% had no prolapse symptoms. Conclusion Despite having a low objective success rate, patients’ satisfaction with AC is very high.