Not the surgery for a young person: women's experience with vaginal closure surgery for severe prolapse.

Introduction: Vaginal prolapse can be debilitating, due to pelvic organ prolapse and herniation of the bladder, uterus, intestines and/or support tissues in the vaginal opening. However, there is little published information that documents women's experiences in the months and years after surgery to correct prolapse.

Objective: This phenomenologic study aimed to increase understanding of the specific experiences that patients report after vaginal closure surgery.

Method: Participants were recruited via a mailing to surgical patients from a large urogynecologic practice. Semi-structured interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed for analysis.

Results: Six women participated in the study. After analyzing the results, five major themes emerged: awareness and confusion, feeling alone in silence, trusting recommendation, acceptance of changed sexuality, and still coping.

Conclusions: This small study shows that vaginal closure affects an intimate body part and can impact self-image, but the women did not regret their changed sexuality. The larger issues for these women were ones of communication, information, and isolation, particularly during their followup care.