Changes in Female Sexual Function Following TVM Surgery

May 27, 2012 ~ What’s interesting is that the comparison of female sexual functioning following transvaginal mesh surgery has never been reported before.

Published online in the May 21, issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan wanted to know whether female sexual function returned following anterior and total transvaginal mesh surgery (TVM) for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

Researchers interviewed 165 women with POP in various stages (II to IV). Seventy of those women were sexually active. Subjects were divided into the anterior group and the anterior and posterior treatment group. Included were women who underwent anterior (39 women) or total (31 women) TVM procedures.

There was no difference between the groups for age, diabetes etc.

Result: “Procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery.

“After TVM surgery, the score of the dyspareunia (painful sex) domain worsened significantly in both groups (P < 0.05), and the deteriorated lubrication domain was noted only in the total group (P = 0.042).

Conclusions:  "TVM procedure creates an effective anatomical restoration of POP, but individual domains of FSFI (female sexual function index) may worsen. Compared with the anterior group, women of the total group had worse quality of life in term of urinary symptoms preoperatively, and experienced a greater sexual impairment on lubrication following surgery.”

"We believe that these findings may aid in counseling women with POP before surgery about potential effects on sexual function post-operatively," the authors write.

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More information: Abstract

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http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02766.x/abstract

Journal reference: Journal of Sexual Medicine