Anorectal symptoms before and after laparoscopic sacrocolpoperineopexy for pelvic organ prolapse.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: To evaluate changes in anorectal symptoms before and after pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery, using laparoscopic sacrocolpoperineopexy.

METHODS

Preoperative and postoperative anorectal symptoms, colorectal-anal distress inventory (CRADI) and colorectal-anal impact questionnaire (CRAIQ) scores were prospectively compared from 90 consecutive women undergoing laparoscopic sacrocolpoperineopexy.

RESULTS

After a median follow-up of 30.7 months, laparoscopic surgery significantly worsened CRADI (p = 0.02) with no effect on CRAIQ (p = 0.37) scores. Post-operative and de novo straining (27%) and the need for digital assistance (17%) were the most frequent anorectal symptoms. No correlation was found between laparoscopic surgery and anorectal symptoms after multivariate analysis (OR = 2.45[95% confidence interval 0.99-6.05], p = 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Anorectal symptoms are not improved after POP surgery by laparoscopic sacrocolpoperineopexy.