Epidemiological, etiological and evolutionary profile of vesico-vaginal fistulas in Senegal

Abstract

To evaluate the epidemiological, etiological and evolutionary profile of vesico-vaginal fistulas (VVF) in university hospitals in Senegal. This is a retrospective, descriptive, single-center study, collecting the records of patients followed for VVF between January 2014 and December 2019 at the Urology and Andrology Department of the Centre hospitalier universitaire Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal. The following parameters were studied: age, geographical origin, parity, and etiology of VVF. To assess the evolution of the epidemiological and etiological profile of VVF, we compared our results with those of series published by our structure. Forty-five (45) VVFs were identified over a period of 6years. This represents an annual average of 7.5 fistulas. The average age was 40±15.13years with extremes of 13years and 75years; 17 patients (37.8%) were older than 45years. The average parity was 3 with extremes from 0 to 12 children. Multiparous women represented 68.8% of the patients. Obstetric VVF (OVF) was more frequent (48.9%) followed by iatrogenic VVF (33.3%). The mean age was higher in the IVF group compared to the VVF group (32years) (P=0.0004). Thirty patients were from the Dakar region and its suburbs (66.6%). The etiology of VVF did not vary according to the geographical origin of the patients (P=NS). VVF was frequently associated with the management of cervical cancer in 42.2% of cases. Comparison of our current data with previous series shows a reduction in the annual incidence of VVF. VVFs, although they have decreased significantly, are still predominant. There is a constant increase in the number of IVF. There is an evolution of the epidemiological and etiological profile marked by a decrease in the frequency of VVFs and an increase in that of IVFs. It is also worth noting the frequent association between cervical cancer and VVF. Level 4: retrospective study.