title: [Choice of prosthesis in genital prolapse surgery].
abstract: Genital prolapse is an increasingly frequent condition and surgical repair is associated with a high recurrence rate. Many technical modifications have been proposed in order to improve these results. Synthetic and biological prostheses have been developed and marketed often in the absence of well conducted randomized controlled studies, and simply claiming the ease of use of a new material. However, urologists must be well informed about the efficacy of these prostheses, their potential limitations and the associated morbidity. The authors report the currently known characteristics of prostheses for genital prolapse repair. There is a consensus in favour of large pore size polypropylene monofilament mesh. Biomaterials are still under investigation for their applications in urology. Randomized, prospective, controlled trials must be conducted to determine the long-term efficacy and potential morbidity of the various materials used. Morbidity is also related to surgical technique and the use of prostheses does not eliminate the need for expertise in prolapse surgery.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Urologie, Cliniques Universitaires de Bruxelles, Hôpital Erasme, Bruxelles, Belgique. thierry.roumeguere@ulb.ac.be
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roumeguère
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D014596:Uterine Prolapse / Q000601:surgery*