Does traditional colporraphy still have a role to play in the treatment of anterior colpocele?

The aim of this review was to summarize the available literature on transvaginal anterior colporrhaphy (AC) in the management of anterior vaginal wall prolapse. A medline search from 1978 to 2008 was performed. Anatomical results were assessed for each study according to the severity of cystocele, the previous pelvic organ prolapse (POP) procedure and the numbers of procedures preformed concomitantly to the AC. The anatomic success rates of single anterior colporrhaphy varied between 0 and 100% with a follow-up ranged from 1 month to 20 years. The highest rates of anatomical recurrence were reported in series which encompassed a large number of women with high grade cystocele and/or previous POP procedures. However, the excellent short-term results and the feasibility of this technique suggest that AC can still be performed in selected cases. (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.