Long-term surgical outcomes of vaginal sacrospinous ligament fixation in women with pelvic organ prolapse

Aim. Few studies have demonstrated the effects of the sacrospinous ligament fixation (SLF) in the long-term period. Aim of the study was to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of SLF. Methods. This was a longitudinal cohort study. Fifty-one patients who had undergone SLF were evaluated postoperatively at 1 and 7 years. The characteristics of patients, intra- and postoperative complications, length of hospital stay period, short and long-term outcomes of the surgeries were recorded. Objective success was evaluated by vaginal and POP-Q examination at 1 and 7 years postoperatively. Results. Out of 51 patients, 46 (90.19%) patients underwent vaginal hysterectomy, 36 (70.58%) patients anterior colporrhaphy, 31 (60.78%) patients posterior colporrhaphy and 11 (21.56%) patients transobturator tape concomitantly with SLF. The differences of Aa, Ba, Ap, Bp and total vaginal length (TVL) scores between preoperative, postoperative at 1 and 7 years were statistically significant (P<0.001). Cystocele rate at 1 year and at 7 years, were 8 out of 51 (15.68%) and 9 out of 35 (25.71%), respectively. The objective cure rate for the apical vaginal vault prolapse at 1 year and at 7 years were 96% (49/51) and 94.28% (33/35), respectively. Conclusion. SLF is an appropriate and safe treatment procedure in patients with vaginal vault prolapse in the seven years of follow-up period.