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Pessary Treatment Successful for Symptomatic Pelvic Organ Prolapse

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24, 2021 -- About three-quarters of patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP) report successful pessary treatment at five-year follow-up, according to a study published online Feb. 24 in Menopause.

Congcong Ma, Ph.D., from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, and colleagues conducted a prospective observational study involving 312 women with symptomatic POP who received pessary treatment between November 2013 and July 2015. Patients were initially fitted with a ring pessary with support, and those who failed were fitted with a Gellhorn pessary. For five years, 265 patients with successful pessary fitting were followed.

The researchers found that 180 of 239 patients continued pessary use after five years (75.3 percent continuation rate) and 26 were lost to follow-up. Over time, there was a decrease in discontinuation rates, from 8.7 to 2.7 percent at one and five years, respectively. Potential discontinuation risk factors included total vaginal length <7.5 cm, improvement in Urinary Impact Questionnaire-7 scores <50 percent at three months, and incapability of self-care (odds ratios, 2.7, 2.1, and 2.6, respectively).

"The vaginal pessary is an effective treatment in patients with symptomatic POP, with a high continuation rate and minor complications," the authors write.

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Posted: February 2021