LAparoscopic Preventive PRErectal Mesh

Urogenital prolapse is a frequent and invalidating pathology in women, involving the anterior vaginal wall and the uterus in most cases. Posterior vaginal wall prolapse is present in only 50% of cases. Surgery is an option for women with troublesome prolapse. A woman's lifetime risk of undergoing surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery by the age of 80 is around 19%. Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LS) with synthetic non-absorbable mesh is considered the gold standard, with a composite success rate of 85% at one year (Prospere study). Based on early experience and historical habits, a prerectal mesh was used to be systematically placed in the rectovaginal space, in addition to the anterior and apical mesh placed in the vesicovaginal space, in order to prevent de-novo posterior prolapse (reported rates up to 33%).

The benefit of preventive prerectal mesh is questionned on the basis of a single retrospective study comparing 68 LS with double-mesh (anterior & posterior, DM) to 32 LS with a single anterior mesh (SAM): posterior recurrence rates were respectively 5.9 vs. 31.3% (p<0,01), and total recurrence rates 16.2 vs. 43.8% (p<0.01). However, as this difference was not significant in the subgroup of patients without associated cervicocystopexy, the authors concluded that the risk of posterior failure was only due to the cervicocystopexy itself (anti-urinary incontinence procedure which has been abandoned since).

On the other hand, a prerectal mesh increases the risk for specific complications: rectal injury (up to 3%), anal pain (up to 25%), mesh exposition (up to 2%). Furthermore the posterior mesh increases the procedure by a minimum of 30 minutes (Robolaps study, unpublished data). The rate of de-novo obstructed defecation after LS with prerectal mesh is reported up to 25%. It could be explained by the mesh itself, but also by nerve injuries during the dissection of the rectovaginal space and rectal stalks.