Risk evaluation of smoking and age on the occurrence of postoperative erosions after transvaginal mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapses

This study evaluated the influence of age and smoking on the occurrence of vaginal erosions after transvaginal mesh repair of pelvic organ prolapses. We recruited all patients that underwent mesh correction of prolapses and excluded those with stress urinary incontinence, ongoing clinical infections, with a complete antibiotic course in the last 6 months, and with systemic diseases affecting tissue oxygenation. We enrolled 325 patients. Postoperative erosions were present in 6%. Age conferred a 1.6-fold increase in the risk to develop erosions while smoking a threefold increase. Patients with deep erosions had the highest values of pack years, and 6.85 pack years conferred a risk similar to advanced age. Age and smoking are important factors also after pelvic organ prolapse surgery. Our data could be used to stratify patients according to their estimated risk and to dedicate them to specific cares for prevention.