Mayo Researchers Find Robotic Repair for Vaginal Prolapse Has Significant Benefits

Mayo Researchers Find Robotic Repair for Vaginal Prolapse Has Significant
Benefits

ROCHESTER, Minn., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New Mayo Clinic research
has found that robotic surgery for vaginal prolapse dramatically reduces
patient hospital stay and recovery time. These findings are being presented
this week at the North Central Section of the American Urological Association
in Scottsdale, Ariz.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090105/MAYOLOGO)

VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources, including excerpts from an
interview with Dr. Daniel Elliott describing the research, are available on
the Mayo Clinic News Blog.

Vaginal prolapse is a condition in which structures such as the uterus,
rectum, bladder, urethra, small bowel, or the vagina itself may begin to
prolapse, or fall, from their normal positions. Without treatment or surgery,
these structures may eventually prolapse farther into the vagina or even
through the vaginal opening if their supports weaken enough.

"Vaginal prolapse is a common, yet distressing physical and cosmetic condition
that 10-15 percent of women will suffer in their lifetimes," says Daniel
Elliott, M.D., Mayo Clinic urologist and senior author on the study. "Robotic
sacrocolpopexy surgery appears to offer many new benefits for patients --
including decreased hospital stay and quicker recovery. Our study looked at
longer-term results post-surgery to find out how patients fared."

From 2002 to 2008, 48 women with symptomatic high-grade post-hysterectomy
vaginal vault prolapse underwent robotic sacrocolpopexy, or vaginal wall
repair. Researchers monitored these patients for three years to evaluate the
success rate of the procedure. Overall, researchers found better outcomes for
robotic sacrocolpopexy patients than traditional surgery, which included: 1)
less-invasive, laparoscopic surgery took less time in the operating room; 2)
fewer postoperative complications; 3) shorter hospital stay; and 4) faster
postoperative recovery and return to work or normal activities.

Prolapse often affects postmenopausal women who've had one or more vaginal
deliveries. Damage sustained by supportive tissues during pregnancy and
childbirth, plus the effects of gravity, loss of estrogen and repeated
straining over the years, can weaken pelvic floor muscles and tissues and lead
to uterine prolapse.

"Traditional abdominal sacrocolpopexy is a very durable procedure, but
recovery is long and sometimes dissuades women from having surgery," says Dr.
Elliott. "This new robotic surgery is a major improvement and offers more
options for women who want to have their prolapse repaired and are looking for
a less-invasive type of procedure."

Others on the Mayo research team include M.A. Childs, M.D., and George Chow,
M.D.

About Mayo Clinic
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patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the
patient come first." More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers
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SOURCE Mayo Clinic

Amy Tieder of Mayo Clinic, +1-507-284-5005 (days), +1-507-284-2511 (evenings),
newsbureau@mayo.edu