Triple-compartment strategy for abdominal sacral colpopexy using PVDF mesh: one-year report of anatomical and subjective outcomes

Introduction and hypothesis: Abdominal Sacral Colpopexy (ASC) is one of the best surgical methods to repair apical or uterine prolapse. We aimed to evaluate the short-term results of a triple-compartment open ASC strategy using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) mesh in the treatment of patients with severe apical or uterine prolapse. Methods: Women with high-grade uterine or apical prolapse with or without cysto-rectocele were prospectively enrolled in the study from April 2015 to June 2021. We performed all-compartment repair using a tailored PVDF mesh for ASC. We assessed the severity of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) system at baseline and 12 months after the operation. The patients completed the International Continence Society Questionnaire Vaginal Symptom (ICIQ-VS) questionnaire at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Thirty-five women with a mean age of 59.8±10.0 years were included in the final analysis. Stage III and stage IV prolapse was evident in 12 and 25 patients, respectively. After 12 months, the median POP-Q stage was significantly lower compared to the baseline (4 vs 0, p=<0.0001). Vaginal symptoms score was also reduced significantly at 3-month (7.5±3.5), 6-month (7.3±3.6), and 12-month (7.2±3.1) compared to the baseline (39.5±6.7) (p values < 0.0001). We did not observe any mesh extrusion or high-grade complications. Six (16.7%) patients had cystocele recurrence during the 12-month follow-up, and two of them needed reoperation. Conclusions: Our short-term follow-up showed that using an open ASC technique with PVDF mesh in treating high-grade apical or uterine prolapse is associated with a high rate of procedural success and low rates of complication.