The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of vaginal native tissue repair (VNTR) on preexisting Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) in women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Two hundred patients who underwent VNTR for symptomatic POP from January 2018 to February 2019 were followed up for 6 months. All patients underwent VNTR, but in the posterior compartment, the rectovaginal fascia was reconnected to the uterosacral ligaments and additionally sutured to the iliococcygeus fascia and muscle. To assess the severity and change in storage phase LUTS before and after surgery, all participants were asked to complete 3 questionnaires: the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire- Short Form (ICIQ-SF), Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6), and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7). The data were assessed with Statistica package version 12.0, using Kalmogorow-Smirnoff, W Shapiro-Wilk tests. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance was applied with post-hoc Tukey test. The study results indicate that the majority of patients with advanced POP suffered from various LUTS. Among storage symptoms, the occurrence of urinary incontinence (UI) and urgency decreased significantly after surgery. Moreover, ICIQ-SF, UDI-6, and IIQ-7 results showed statistically significant improvement in the impact of UI on the quality of life (QoL) in the vast majority of patients after surgery. VNTR is an effective way to treat not only anatomical, but also functional problems in such patients.
Keywords: lower urinary tract symptoms; pelvic organ prolapse; vaginal native tissue repair.