Pelvic organ prolapse surgery following hysterectomy with benign indication: a national cohort study in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS

Hysterectomy and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgeries are two of the most common gynecologic surgeries conducted for benign conditions. This nationwide retrospective cohort study explored the risk of subsequent POP surgery following hysterectomy without simultaneous POP surgery.

METHODS

This study identified 7298 patients who underwent hysterectomy between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2012, from the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) Research Database. A comparison cohort was constructed comprising 29,192 age-matched patients who had not undergone hysterectomy. All hysterectomy and control patients were followed until they required POP surgery, withdrew from the NHI system, died, or December 31, 2012. Patients were excluded if they underwent POP surgery before or at the time of hysterectomy.

RESULTS

The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of subsequent POP surgery in subjects with hysterectomy was higher [2.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.79-3.78] than that of controls during the follow-up period. Compared with patients who had not undergone hysterectomy, the highest risks of subsequent POP surgery was noted in those who had undergone vaginal hysterectomy (VH; HR 6.29, 95% CI 1.54-25.79) followed by those who underwent laparoscopy-assisted VH (LAVH; HR 3.77, 95% CI 2.43-5.85).

CONCLUSIONS

Hysterectomy may increase the risk of subsequent POP surgery, and various hysterectomy techniques, particularly VH and LAVH, may increase the risk of subsequent POP surgery.