Quality of life recovery after laparoscopic high uterosacral ligament suspension: a single centre observational study

Objective: Laparoscopic high uterosacral ligament suspension (L-HUSLS) is a laparoscopic-transposed vaginal technique for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse. Nowadays data regarding quality of life and sexual functions in patients who underwent L-HUSLS for pelvic organ prolapse are few and generic with most of the study investigating the anatomical outcome. For these reasons, the aim of our study is to evaluate these subjective outcomes in women undergoing this surgical procedure with the support of validated questionnaires. Study design: This is a retrospective study with the primary aim of analysing the quality of life, sexual function, patient satisfaction rates and anatomical outcome among patients who underwent L-HUSLS in our institution. The SPSS Version 26.0 for Windows (Statistical package for the social studies, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for the statistical analysis. Results: A total of 60 patients underwent L-HUSLS between 2016 and 2018. All patients had a high grade of apical prolapse. No intraoperative and major postoperative complications were registered. The median follow-up was 24 months (24−48). PGI-I score was 1–2 in 55 (91.6 %) women. We observed a significant improvement of EQ-5D index and VAS scores from the baseline to the 2 years follow-up: from 0.72 (0.67−1) to 0.91 (0.79−1) and from 50 (30−90) to 70 (50−100) respectively (p = 0.000). All women showed a statistically significant amelioration of FSDS and ICIQ-SF scores. Anatomical success rate after 24 months was 83.7 %. Conclusions: L-HUSLS appears to be a safe, feasible and effective treatment for advanced pelvic organ prolapse with high rates of patient self-reported cure.