SURGICAL SUPPORT AND SUSPENSION OF GENITAL PROLAPSE, INCLUDING PRESERVATION OF THE UTERUS, USING THE GORE-TEX(R) SOFT-TISSUE PATCH (A PRELIMINARY-REPORT)

Abdominal-retroperitoneal sacral genito-colpopexy - using the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) soft tissue patch has been found to be highly effective for repair of genito-vaginal prolapse. We treated 61 patients in this way, including patients who had failed multiple previous attempts at repair. At a mean of 32 months of follow-up, more than 95% of patients were still classified as successfully treated. To preserve the uterus in cases of complete genito-vaginal prolapse, we have developed a new surgical technique, which we describe in this paper.