Quality of life after Uphold™ Vaginal Support System surgery for apical pelvic organ prolapse-A prospective multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects on quality of life in women operated for apical pelvic organ prolapse using the Vaginal Uphold™ System.

STUDY DESIGN: In this prospective cohort study, women (n=207) with symptomatic apical prolapse, with or without cystocele, were operated using the Uphold™ Vaginal Support System. Follow-up for quality of life was performed at 12 months after surgery, and assessed by the PFDI-20, and PFIQ-7, and sexual function by the PISQ-12. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for outcome association analyses using logistic regression.

RESULTS: At one-year follow-up majority of women experienced an overall postoperative improvement in quality of life (p<0.001). One year after surgery Uphold™ operation alone increased the risk for prolapse related bother as compared to Uphold™ combined with anterior colporraphy (POP-IQ-7; OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.01-4.3). The frequency of dyspareunia decreased postoperatively (p=0.004), however, after one-year, overall sexual function deteriorated significantly (p<0.001). The worsening in sexual function scores was mainly attributed to the partner related domain, whereas the behavioral-emotive and physical domains showed no significant changes.

CONCLUSION: Apical prolapse repair using Uphold™ improved quality of life among our patients but worsened overall sexual function postoperatively.