Could we perform vaginal mesh surgery for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse in elderly women?

Prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse will increase with the aging of the population. Concerning the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse, transvaginal route is often preferred for elderly women. However few data are available concerning transvaginal mesh surgery in this population. The aim of this study was to compare efficiency and complications of transvaginal mesh surgery between women aged over 75 and younger women. A monocentric, retrospective study included all women who underwent anterior sacrospinous suspension with mesh for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse. The primary endpoint was anatomical success at the last follow-up, defined by a pelvic organ prolapse stage 0 or 1 of POP-Q classification. The secondary endpoints were rate of complications and urinary, colorectal and sexual functional results. We included 329 patients, 69 were under 75 years old and 260 were aged over 75. The median of follow-up was 12 months (IQR: 6). The rate of anatomical success was significantly higher in patients aged over 75: 92% versus 85% in younger patients (P=0.02). However this difference was no more significant in multivariate analysis after inclusion of confusions factors (P=0.82). The rate of perioperative complications was low and similar in the 2 groups even in multivariate analysis. Utero-vaginal suspension using bilateral vaginal anterior sacrospinous fixation with mesh seems to achieve at least similar results between women aged more than 75 years and younger women. There is no excess risk of complications in elderly women. 4.