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Sexual function in women before and after transvaginal mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapse

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess sexual function in women before and after surgery with transvaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse. Women were invited to complete a sexual function questionnaire including the Lemack and the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaires (PISQ-12) before undergoing surgery and 1 year after surgery. Eighty-three complete pre and postoperative questionnaires were analyzed. Mean age was 65.1 years. Forty-six were sexually inactive and 37 were sexually active women. Two sexually active women completed the preoperative PISQ-12 questionnaire retrospectively after surgery. There were no significant differences after surgery in the answers to the Lemack questionnaire and PISQ-12 scores. These results suggest that nonabsorbable transvaginal mesh repair of genital prolapse does not impair sexual function 1 year after surgery. Nevertheless, patients should not necessarily expect a significant improvement in sexual function outcome following transvaginal mesh repair for genital prolapse.

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Acknowledgement

Our sincere thanks to our patients who took the time to complete these questionnaires and to Richard Medeiros, Rouen University Hospital Medical Editor, for his valuable editorial assistance.

Funding

The authors confirm that they have no direct or indirect commercial financial incentive associated with publishing the article and that the source of extra-institutional funding, particularly that provided by commercial sources, is indicated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pavillon Mère-Enfant, Rouen University Hospital—Charles Nicolle, 1, rue de Germont, 76031, Rouen, France

    Loïc Sentilhes, Aurélien Berthier, Fabrice Sergent, Eric Verspyck, Philippe Descamps & Loïc Marpeau

Authors
  1. Loïc Sentilhes
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  2. Aurélien Berthier
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  3. Fabrice Sergent
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  4. Eric Verspyck
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  5. Philippe Descamps
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  6. Loïc Marpeau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Loïc Sentilhes.

Appendix

Appendix

Pelvic Organ Prolapse Urinary Incontinence Sexual Function Questionnaire

(PISQ-12) [20]

Instructions: Following are a list of questions about you and your partner’s sex life. All information is strictly confidential. Your confidential answers will be used only to help doctors understand what is important to patients about their sex lives. Please check the box that best answers the question for you. While answering the questions, consider your sexuality over the past 6 months. Thank you for your help.

Scoring:

Scores are calculated by totaling the scores for each question with 0=always, 4=never. Reverse scoring is used for items 1, 2, 3, and 4. The short-form questionnaire can be used with up to two missing responses. To handle missing values, the sum is calculated by multiplying the number of items by the mean of the answered items. If there are more than two missing responses, the short form no longer accurately predicts long-form scores. To make scores comparable to long-form scores, multiply the total by 2.58 (31/12).

Lemack Questionnaire [19]

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Sentilhes, L., Berthier, A., Sergent, F. et al. Sexual function in women before and after transvaginal mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapse. Int Urogynecol J 19, 763–772 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-007-0521-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-007-0521-7

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