[Surgical treatment of vaginal prolapse after hysterectomy]

Forty-five women were treated with a sacrospinous ligament fixation of the vaginal apex between 1979 and 1993. The patients had a complete vaginal prolapse following abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy or in three cases a combined uterine and vaginal prolapse. The sacrospinous ligament fixation was carried out as described by Amreich, Sederl and Richter. The fixation of the vagina was successful performed in 43 women. These results were obtained using absorbable suture material. A sciatic nerve damage was observed in two patients for a short time with spontaneous recovery, coincident with suture absorption and nerve regeneration. We consider and recommend fixation of the vaginal apex to the sacrospinous ligament as the technique preferred for the operative treatment of a vaginal prolapse and for the rare cases of uterine prolapse, which cannot be corrected otherwise.