Abdominal vault suspension with rectus sheath strips: a case series

This is a retrospective case series conducted in Worthing General Hospital to evaluate the clinical outcome of abdominal vault suspension (AVS) using rectus sheath strips to treat vaginal vault prolapse. Thirty-four patients had suspension of the vaginal vault using this procedure. Patients were followed up at 3-6 months and by questionnaire for up to 90 months. Incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications, improvement of prolapsed symptoms and recurrence of vault prolapsed were the main outcome measures. There were no serious intraoperative complications. Ninety four percent of patients had subjective resolution of their prolapsed symptoms whereas 6% had further symptoms. Hospital stay ranged from 2 to 8 days. There were no cases of bowel problems in the postoperative period or in the long term. Hospital stay ranged from 2 to 8 days. AVS using rectus sheath strips appears to be a safer and easier alternative to other abdominal suspension procedures. The use of patients' own tissue eliminates the risk of mesh erosion.