Colpocleisis without mid-urethral sling: A valid concept in the elderly with vault vaginal prolapse and stress urinary incontinence?

Objectives. - Estimate the urinary impact of vaginal occlusion without mid-urethral sling in the elderly with vault vaginal prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. Patients and methods. - Retrospective case series of 22 women who underwent a vaginal closure between May 2005 and April 2009. Postoperating evaluation of the impact on the urinary tract of this surgery and of the satisfaction of the patients to a phone investigation. Results. - Seventeen patients with mean age 80 years answered the phone questionnaire. With a mean follow up of 23.9 months, the rate of satisfaction amounts to 88%. The rate of recurrence is 11%. Urge incontinence decreases from 36 to 24% and there is no stress urinary incontinence postoperatively. Conclusion. - Colpocleisis is a surgical technique which meets high rates of satisfaction and which seems effective in the treatment of urinary incontinence associated with vaginal vault prolapse in the elderly. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.