Outcomes of vaginal reconstructive surgery with and without graft material.

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the outcomes of vaginal surgery for pelvic organ prolapse, comparing cases implementing graft augmentation to those without graft augmentation.

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study of 312 patients who underwent vaginal surgery for prolapse from February 1998 to January 2004.

Results: Of the 312 patients, 98 (31.4%) had graft augmentation. The median follow-up was 9 months (3-67 months). Graft use was not associated with reduction in recurrent prolapse, recurrent stage 3 prolapse, recurrent incontinence, or additional surgery for prolapse. After controlling for confounders, there was still no difference in surgical outcomes. Complications such as vaginal/graft infection (18.4% vs 4.7%; P < .001) and granulation tissue (38.8% vs 17.3%; P < .001) were more common after cases in which graft was used.

Conclusion: In the early postoperative period, there was no benefit in using graft for prolapse repair. Graft use leads to a higher rate of postoperative complications.