Prolapse surgery combination may lead to stress urinary continence treatment failure in older women

Compared with younger women, older women who undergo combined surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) are almost twice as likely to experience SUI (but not POP) treatment failure.

However, older women report just as significant an improvement in symptoms and effect on quality of life as younger women do, according to the findings of a retrospective cohort study involving 122 women younger than 65 years of age and 70 women 65 years of age or older.

After a median follow-up time of almost 1 year, no significant difference existed between the 2 groups.

Twenty-one percent of the older women and 11% of the younger women reported SUI treatment failure (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-2.5), whereas 13% of the older women and 9% of the younger women reported POP treatment failure (AOR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.29-2.8).

Sung VW, Joo K, Marques F, Myers DL. Patient-reported outcomes after combined surgery for pelvic floor disorders in older compared to younger women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009;201(5):534. e1-e5.