Surgery for pelvic organ prolapse in women of 80 years of age and older.

BACKGROUND

To investigate the long-term results of women over 80 years of age following surgery for pelvic organ prolapse. Design. Retrospective, descriptive study.

METHODS

We reviewed all records of women of 80 years and older operated for pelvic organ prolapse; all patients alive were contacted through a postal questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 2058 operations for pelvic organ prolapse were performed in the study period. One hundred and twenty-eight patients were 80 years and older with the mean age of 83 years (range 80-92 years). In three cases, serious complications occurred, and one of them died shortly after the operation. Follow-up was done with a postal questionnaire. Eighty-eight percent of patients who were alive at the time of data analysis returned the questionnaire. The mean duration of follow-up was 28 months (range 1-80 months). There were no patients who reported a relapse of prolapse. Urinary incontinence, urge, stress, or mixed incontinence, was present in almost half of the cases. The time to full recovery after the operation was experienced to be less than 3 months for 48%. General satisfaction with the procedure was high with 88% being (very) satisfied.

CONCLUSION

The operative correction of a pelvic organ prolapse in a group of women 80 years and older is a successful operation, with an acceptable morbidity and a high satisfaction of the patients.