Ring and Gellhorn pessaries used in patients with pelvic organ prolapse: a retrospective study of 8 years

AIM: The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with pessary fitting, continued use of pessary and satisfaction of patients with pelvic organ prolapse. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in patients who received an initial pessary fitting. The clinical characteristics of these patients were recorded. The Pelvic Floor Disability Index PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 were used to assess pelvic floor dysfunction and quality of life. Complications, satisfaction degree, and reasons for abandonment were recorded during the follow-up. T test and Chi square test in SPSS version 20 were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Three hundred women with symptomatic prolapse were selected for pessary fitting, whose average age was 67.8 ± 10.7 years. For two hundred and forty-nine (83%) women, the fitting was successful, of whom 162 used ring pessaries and 87 used Gellhorn pessaries. Forty-seven patients abandoned using a pessary at the end of our study. Most clinical characteristics were not significantly different between the successful and unsuccessful fitting groups (P > 0.05). The average score of CRADI-8 was lower in successful fitting group (11.9 ± 15.9) than that in unsuccessful fitting group (18.8 ± 19.9) (P < 0.05). 162 patients with successful pessary fitting completed the satisfaction survey, 79% of whom were satisfied or very satisfied. Erosions (24.4%) were the most common complication. Difficulty in inserting or removing (30.4%) and erosions (22.8%) were the main factors, which affected the satisfaction degree. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with obvious symptoms of posterior pelvic prolapse are more likely to fit failure. Difficulty in inserting or removing and erosions are the main factors, which lead to the discontinuation of pessary use and decrease in the satisfaction degree. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00404-018-4844-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.