Vaginectomy with pelvic herniorrhaphy for prolapse

OBJECTIVE: The study was undertaken to report our experience with vaginectomy and pelvic herniorrhaphy for vaginal prolapse. STUDY DESIGN: This was an observational study of patients undergoing vaginectomy (n = 41) or hysterovaginectomy (n = 13) for stage III/IV vaginal prolapse. Morbidity was compared with cohorts who had undergone transvaginal repair of prolapse, by using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Morbidity did not differ significantly (estimated blood loss) between the vaginectomy and hysterovaginectomy groups. There were no recurrent hernias (6-56 months). Operative time, estimated blood loss, and day of discharge were significantly greater for the posthysterectomy prolapse group compared with the vaginectomy group. Operative time was significantly greater for the uterovaginal prolapse group versus the hysterovaginectomy group. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginectomy with or without hysterectomy with pelvic herniorrhaphy is associated with a low rate of morbidity in a high-risk patient population. Hysterovaginectomy is not associated with a clinically significant difference in morbidity over vaginectomy alone. Vaginectomy with or without hysterectomy should be offered as a surgical option to selected patients with severe genital prolapse.