Abstract
Surgeons dealing with female pelvic organ prolapse and female stress urinary incontinence have been using mesh implants for at least six decades. This practice has become very widespread since around 1995 due to the development of highly biocompatible synthetic suburethral slings. Over the last 10 years this trend has also extended to similar materials being used in prolapse surgery, causing major controversy. Anchored meshes seems to be effective in reducing prolapse recurrence when used for cystocele repair, but they do not guarantee a cure and complications are not uncommon. Imaging has a major, largely unrealized role to play in patient selection, the optimization of implant design, in surgical audit and in the management of complications and recurrence. In this article, the author will summarize the current role of imaging in the context of mesh surgery, both in incontinence and prolapse.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Poul Nielsen, Auckland Bioengineering Institute (Auckland, New Zealand), for help with the modeling of pelvic floor loading as shown in .
Financial & competing interests disclosure
HP Dietz has, within the last two calendar years, acted as a consultant for American Medical Systems (MN, USA) and Materna Inc. (CA, USA) and has received an educational grant from GE Medical. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.