Abstract
Objective:Urinary fistula is a distressing complication after difficult vaginal deliveries, obstetric, and gynecologic surgeries. The present study describes a single center’s experience in the management of urinary fistula at a tertiary care hospital. It was performed to analyze the etiology of genitourinary fistula, to assess the outcome after surgical repair, and to determine the changing trends in the etiology and management of urinary fistula.Material and Methods:This retrospective study was conducted over 5 years in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Twenty patients who underwent surgical repair of urinary fistula were included in the study and analyzed for their etiology, presentation, site, size, previous failed repair, approach of surgical repair, and outcome. The findings of the present study were compared with a previous study at our center to determine the changing trends of urinary fistula.Results:The mean age of the study population was 37.05±8.08 years. The majority (65%) of the fistulae occurred following gynecologic surgeries, whereas 25% were due to obstructed labor, and 10% after cesarean section for other indications. The vaginal approach was used in all except one case of uterovesical fistula, which was repaired abdominally. The outcome was successful in 85% of cases. The success rate was similar in primary versus previous failed repair (p=0.270).Conclusion:The most common cause of urinary fistula in the present study was gynecologic surgery. The vaginal approach can be used even in cases with previous failed repairs with a high success rate.
Highlights
Urinary fistula is one of the most distressing complications after difficult vaginal deliveries, obstetric, and gynecologic surgeries
The present study describes a single center’s experience in the management of urinary fistula at a tertiary care hospital
Twenty patients who underwent surgical repair of urinary fistula were included in the study after approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the institution
Summary
Urinary fistula is one of the most distressing complications after difficult vaginal deliveries, obstetric, and gynecologic surgeries. It has great impact on social, psychological, and sexual life of affected patients. It is a very old entity, the earliest case was reported in 1923 in a mummified body that was dated 2050 BC [1]. The reported incidence of vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) in developed countries is 0.3-2% [2]. The burden can be estimated by the fact that according to an estimation in Ethiopia alone, 9000 women develop fistula annually, and only 1200 of those were being treated [5]
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