Clinical efficacy of flap transfer coverage in the treatment of vesicovaginal fistula

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) brings severe psychological, physiological, and social stress to patients, which seriously affects the quality of their sexual life. Traditional transvaginal repair surgery can cause vaginal shortening. Transferring the lateral free flap can maintain vaginal length. This study was carried out to investigate the clinical efficacy of the surgery of flap transfer coverage for treating VVF. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 37 patients diagnosed with VVF and repaired by flap transfer coverage in the Urogynecology department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January 2018 to June 2021. All patients took a prone split leg position to repair VVF with the flap transfer covering method and a chart review was performed. RESULTS: Among the 37 patients, there were 34 cases of primary complete healing, and the success rate reached 91.89% without recurrence and complications. Three cases recurred with leakage of urine; cystoscopy showed that the fistula was significantly reduced, and all patients were cured after secondary repair by the same surgical method without complications. CONCLUSIONS: Flap transfer coverage is a safe and effective surgical method for repairing VVF. The prone split leg position can better increase exposure. The fistula being away from the incision suture is the key to the success of the operation. Transferring the fistula can effectively improve the cure rate of VVF. Transferring the lateral free flap can maintain vaginal length. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00192-023-05465-w