Reviewing Patients Following Mesh Repair; The Benefits.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The use of synthetic mesh implants for vaginal prolapse surgery is still a subject of debate due to safety concerns. We aimed to explore long-term complications of all women treated with mesh surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in our centre.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 188 women who underwent vaginal mesh surgery in a Dutch University Hospital between 2007 and 2012. The prevalence of mesh exposure, pain symptoms and patient satisfaction has been documented.

RESULTS: Vaginal mesh surgery was performed in 188 women - in 147 (78%) because of recurrent POP. After a median follow-up of 40 months (range 12-76 months), 11 women (6%) had a symptomatic exposure of whom 8 women underwent surgery. Nine women (5%) had de novo pain following mesh surgery and in 3 women, (2%) this symptom was persistent despite treatment. Eighty-six percent of the responders were satisfied about their treatment.

CONCLUSION: With this study, we showed that performing a total mesh recall is feasible. The prevalence of persisting symptomatic exposure and persisting pain symptoms was low in our population. Most of the complications we found were treatable. This is also reflected in the high overall satisfaction rate.