Describing Sacrocolpopexy in Medical Literature: A Proposed Surgical Classification System

Area of Science:

• Urogynecology
• Surgical Innovation
• Pelvic Floor Disorders

Background:

• Sacrocolpopexy is a durable and effective treatment for pelvic organ prolapse.
• Current sacrocolpopexy techniques lack standardization, hindering research and communication.
• A classification system is needed to categorize procedures based on dissection extent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a classification system for sacrocolpopexy.
• To standardize terminology and facilitate research in sacrocolpopexy.
• To analyze the extent of vaginal dissection in published sacrocolpopexy literature.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of randomized control trials was conducted.
• EMBASE and Medline databases were searched for relevant English-language studies.
• 52 articles were included in the analysis after screening.

Main Results:

• Abdominal, laparoscopic, and robotic approaches were analyzed.
• Details on anterior vaginal dissection extent were often missing (50%).
• Posterior dissection extent was also frequently undescribed (48%), with variations in reported depth.

Conclusions:

• Lack of standardization in sacrocolpopexy techniques impacts research consistency.
• The proposed classification framework, based on dissection extent, is the first step toward standardizing the procedure.
• This categorization aims to unify language, aiding research and physician communication.