Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep;136(3):492-500.
doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003992.

Sexual Activity and Dyspareunia 1 Year After Surgical Repair of Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Emily S Lukacz  1 , Amaanti Sridhar, Christopher J Chermansky, David D Rahn, Heidi S Harvie, Marie G Gantz, R Edward Varner, Nicole B Korbly, Donna Mazloomdoost; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN)
Affiliations

Sexual Activity and Dyspareunia 1 Year After Surgical Repair of Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Emily S Lukacz et al. Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To describe sexual activity and risks for dyspareunia after pelvic organ prolapse surgery.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data from four randomized trials conducted between 2002 and 2018. Standard assessments and validated measures of sexual function were assessed at baseline and at 12 months postoperatively. Anterior apical surgeries were grouped by approach: transvaginal native tissue repairs, transvaginal mesh or graft-augmented repairs, and abdominal sacrocolpopexy. Additional surgeries, which included posterior repair, hysterectomy, and slings, were analyzed. Bivariate analyses and logistic regression models identified risk factors for postoperative dyspareunia.

Results: Of the 1,337 women enrolled in the trials, 932 had sufficient outcome data to determine dyspareunia status. Of these before surgery, 445 (47.8%) were sexually active without dyspareunia, 89 (9.6%) were sexually active with dyspareunia, 93 (10.0%) were not sexually active owing to fear of dyspareunia, and 305 (32.7%) were not sexually active for other reasons. At 12 months, dyspareunia or fear of dyspareunia was present in 63 of 627 (10.0%); occurred de novo in 17 of 445 (3.8%) and resolved in 136 of 182 (74.7%). Multivariable regression demonstrated baseline dyspareunia as the only factor associated with postoperative dyspareunia (adjusted odds ratio 7.8, 95% CI 4.2-14.4). No other factors, including surgical approach, were significantly associated with postoperative dyspareunia. Too few had de novo dyspareunia to perform modeling.

Conclusion: Dyspareunia is common in one in five women before undergoing prolapse surgery. Surgical repair resolves dyspareunia in three out of four women with low rates of de novo dyspareunia at less than 4%. Preoperative dyspareunia appears to be the only predictor of postoperative dyspareunia.

Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00065845, NCT00460434, NCT00597935, and NCT01802281.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Lawrence JM, Lukacz ES, Nager CW, Hsu JWY, Luber KM. Prevalence and co-occurrence of pelvic floor disorders in community-dwelling women. Obs Gynecol. 2008/03/04. 2008;111(3):678–85. - PubMed
    1. Nygaard I, Barber MD, Burgio KL, Kenton K, Meikle S, Schaffer J, et al. Prevalence of symptomatic pelvic floor disorders in US women. JAMA. 2008/09/19. 2008. September;300(11):1311–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wu JM, Vaughan CP, Goode PS, Redden DT, Burgio KL, Richter HE, et al. Prevalence and trends of symptomatic pelvic floor disorders in U.S. women. Obs Gynecol. 2014;123(1):141–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wu JM, Matthews CA, Conover MM, Pate V, Jonsson Funk M. Lifetime risk of stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse surgery. Obs Gynecol. 2014;123(6):1201–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sung VW, Rogers RG, Barber MD, Clark MA. Conceptual framework for patient-important treatment outcomes for pelvic organ prolapse. Neurourol Urodyn. 2014;33(4):414–9. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data