Bloodless Outpatient Surgical Treatment of Rectocele and Cystocele under Local Anesthesia

Background: Surgical treatment of rectocele and cystocele is usually performed in a hospital setting under regional (spinal or epidural) or general anesthesia, and patients commonly have to stay in the hospital for at least one or two days. The possibility of performing the surgery under local anesthesia, as an outpatient procedure with minimal bleeding and pain, no surgical assistants, with immediate discharge and, most importantly, without compromising postoperative results, is appealing. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated whether performing rectocele and/or cystocele rectocele repair under local infiltration anesthesia and without separation of the vaginal mucosa from the underlying fascia achieves these goals. Objective: The aim of this study is to describe a new surgical technique for outpatient treatment of cystocele and rectocele under local anesthesia, and our initial results. Materials and Methods: Forty women underwent outpatient surgical repair of rectocele and/or cystocele between April and September 2020 at the ambulatory procedure room of the authors’ clinics. The technique consists of a triangular-shaped CO2 laser vaporization or electrocauterization of the posterior and/or anterior vaginal epithelium, followed by plication of the edges of the triangle with 0 polygalactin suture. A perineorrhaphy was always performed concomitantly with rectocele repair, and a transobturator sling was performed in women presenting with concomitant stress urinary incontinence. Postoperative evaluation included POP-Q measurement for each patient six months after the procedure, and resolution of prolapse was considered when anterior and/or posterior vaginal wall presented as stage 0 or 1. Pre and postoperative POP-Q measurements were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The mean operating time was 21 minutes (range: 14 - 38 minutes). All patients tolerated the procedure well and were discharged immediately afterwards. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications, and all patients had satisfactory healing of the vaginal mucosa. Bleeding from the rectocele and/or cystocele repair was minimal, and nobody required extra-anesthesia or transfer to a hospital surgical theater. At six month follow-up, pre and postoperative POP-Q measurements of points Ap, Bp, Aa and Ba were all statistically significant (Ap 1.6 ± 1.2 × -2.4 ± 0.9, Bp 2.6 ± 1.6 × -2.7 ± 1.4, Aa 1.4 ± 1.1 × -2.3 ± 0.8, and Ba 2.4 ± 1.5 × -2.5 ± 1.2) respectively, revealing satisfactory resolution of both rectocele and cystocele. Conclusion: Our initial results suggest that rectocele and cystocele may be safely and effectively treated under local anesthesia in an outpatient setting using this new technique.