Risk factors for mesh erosion after female pelvic floor reconstructive surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the risk factors for mesh erosion after female pelvic floor reconstructive surgery based on published literature.

Materials and methods: A systematic literature search of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Chinese Science and Technology Periodical (VIP) databases was performed to identify studies related to the risk factors for mesh erosion after female pelvic floor reconstruction published before December 2014. Summary unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of associations between the factors and mesh erosion.

Results: In all, 25 studies containing 7,084 patients were included in our systematic review and meta-analysis. Statistically significant differences in mesh erosion after female pelvic floor reconstruction were found in older vs younger patients (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98), more parities vs less parities (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.07-1.51), the presence of premenopausal/oestrogen replacement therapy (ERT) (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03-1.79), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.35-2.57), smoking (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.80-3.08), concomitant pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.16-0.84), concomitant hysterectomy (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.03-2.07), preservation of the uterus at surgery (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.08-0.63), and surgery performed by senior vs junior surgeons (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.30-0.58).

Conclusion: Our study indicates that younger age, more parities, premenopausal/ERT, diabetes mellitus, smoking, concomitant hysterectomy, and surgery performed by a junior surgeon were significant risk factors for mesh erosion after female pelvic floor reconstructive surgery. Moreover, concomitant POP surgery and preservation of the uterus may be the potential protective factors for mesh erosion.

Keywords: female pelvic floor reconstruction; mesh erosion; meta-analysis; risk factors; systematic review.