Background: Cervical elongation is commonly associated with pelvic organ prolapse (POP). It was an identified risk for recurrent prolapse after hysteropexy, requiring additional surgeries. The aim of the study is to investigate the risk factors for uterine cervical elongation among women with POP.
Methods: In this single-center retrospective cohort study, women who underwent vaginal total hysterectomy for POP between 2014 and 2016 were collected. The cervical and total uterine lengths were measured by pathologists, while the ratio of cervical length to total uterine length were calculated. The cervical elongation is defined as corpus/cervix ratio ≤ 1.5.
Results: A total of 133 patients were enrolled in this study. Among these patients, 43 women had cervical elongation and 90 women had normal length of uterine cervix. We found that age > 65 years old (67.4% vs. 42.2%, p = 0.007), total vaginal length ≥ 9.5 cm (65.1% vs. 45.6%, p = 0.035), uterine weight < 51 gm (72.1% vs. 52.2%, p = 0.03), and Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory 6 (POPDI-6) ≥ 12 (30.2% vs. 14.4%, p = 0.032) were associated with the risk of cervical elongation. There were no significant differences on preoperative urodynamic parameters in the two groups.
Conclusion: The patient age > 65 years old, the total vaginal length of POP-Q system ≥ 9.5 cm, uterine weight < 51 g, and POPDI-6 ≥ 12 are independent risk factors of cervical elongation in women with POP. For women scheduled for pelvic reconstructive hysteropexy, concomitant cervical amputation should be considered.
Keywords: cervical elongation; hysteropexy; pelvic organ prolapse; predictor; risk factor.