Solution for vaginal prolapse?
Pelvic floor mats are not undisputed. But what about its security really? Why are they still used? We asked the expert.
At the end of 2011, the Health Care Inspectorate initiated an investigation into plastic pelvic floor mats following complaints from women. About 1,200 to 1,400 women receive such a pelvic floor mat every year and 3 percent of them have to undergo an often complicated repair operation.
Fred Milani, gynecologist and chair of the pelvic floor working group of the Dutch Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (NVOG): “Every year about thirteen thousand women are operated on a vaginal prolapse. The chance that a prolapse will come back after surgery with your own tissue is 20 to 30 percent. With a plastic mat, the chance is much smaller, but there is also a higher chance of complications.”
What can go wrong?
“Plastic pelvic floor mats can become exposed in the vagina. This occurs in 5 to 10 percent of patients. The risk is three times higher in women who smoke. This does not have to cause any complaints, but can be accompanied by discharge, blood loss or pain during sex. The mesh can also shrink, so that you can get chronic pain. This occurs at most one in two hundred times. With a repair operation it is not always possible to remedy the pain.”
Why are those mats still used?
“Because they give better results in women who have had a prolapse again after their first operation. In recent years, the surgical technique and the material have improved, so that complications occur less often than a few years ago. Partly dissolvable vaginal mats have recently been introduced. , which cause fewer complaints. We have also become stricter: for women who come for the first time, the mats may no longer be used for two years, because the added value for them has not been demonstrated.”
How do I know if my mat is right?
“Six weeks and a year after the operation, patients are called for a check-up, because we know that complaints often start in the first year. Anyone who has had a plastic mat for a longer period of time and has no complaints can assume that it is OK. , blood loss or heavy discharge, it is wise to make an appointment with the gynaecologist.”
What should I pay attention to before I agree to the installation of a plastic mat?
“Ask what alternatives and risks are. Also ask how much experience the gynaecologist has with placing these mats. Only specially trained urogynaecologists – gynecologists who work with the pelvic floor – are allowed to place a plastic mat. They have to perform this operation at least twenty times a year. perform to maintain their operating proficiency.”
Sources):
- Plus Magazine
