Outcomes in Women With Pelvic Organ Prolapse Presenting With Pessary-Related Complications

There is currently a paucity of data describing the outcomes of women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and/or urinary incontinence (UI) who present with pessary-related complications.

This study aimed to describe outcomes in women with POP and UI managed with a pessary who present with pessary-related complications.

This was a retrospective cohort study of women with POP and/or UI who elected for management with a pessary from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020. Patients were included if they had used a pessary for at least 1 year and had a documented pessary-related complication. Complications were defined a priori, and patient charts were abstracted using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revisions codes associated with pessary use.

Of 2,088 of women receiving pessary care, 444 (21%) experienced a complication. Of 154 of women, 34.6% experienced 2 pessary-related complications during the study period, whereas 12.6% (56) experienced 3, 4.5% (20) experienced 4, and 1.8% (8) experienced 5. One hundred fifty-two patients (34.2%) underwent surgery during the study period to manage their POP and/or UI. Patients who were older were less likely to have surgery (adjusted odds ratio, 0.70 [95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.90]; P = 0.002), and patients who had an indication of pessary use for both POP and UI were more likely to undergo surgery during the study period (adjusted odds ratio, 2.12 [95% confidence interval, 1.29-3.48]; P = 0.003).

Our results suggest that 1 in 5 patients has a documented complication associated with pessary use of greater than 1 year. Of these patients, one third will eventually undergo surgery for management of their POP and/or UI.