Anterior vaginal wall reconstruction: anterior colporrhaphy reinforced with tension free vaginal tape underneath bladder base

Objective. To assess the effectiveness of the polypropylene tape in preventing cystocele recurrence. Methods. Fifty Caucasian women aged 50-77 years (mean age 66.6 years), with stage II–IV pelvic organ prolapse, enrolled into the study. Vaginal reconstructive surgery included an anterior colporrhaphy on all patients, posterior colpoperineorrhaphy on 28 patients and hysterectomy on 36 patients. Patients were divided into a study group of 28 women and a control group of 22 women. As reinforcement to the anterior colporrhaphy procedure, in the study group a polypropylene tape (TVT-O) was placed underneath the bladder base and fixed with polyglactin sutures. Postoperative follow-up was carried out every 4 months (total 48 months). The assessment of the anatomic result included both clinical evaluation of the operated sites and perineal sonography. Results. The mean postoperative distance of the bladder base to the inferior edge of the symphysis pubis was 1.5 cm (range: 1.0–2.2 cm) in the study group and 2.8 c...