title: The influence of BMI, smoking, and age on vaginal erosions after synthetic mesh repair of pelvic organ prolapses. A multicenter study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the influence of body mass index (BMI), smoking, and age on the risk of vaginal erosions after mesh repair of pelvic prolapses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three university and community hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients that underwent mesh correction of prolapses between 2002 and 2007. Excluded were those with stress urinary incontinence, ongoing clinical infections, with a complete antibiotic course in the last six months and with systemic diseases affecting tissue oxygenation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Revision of medical notes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Risk contributions for age, smoking, and BMI on the occurrence of vaginal erosions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data were collected from 460 patients. Postoperative erosions were present in 7%. BMI greater than 30 conferred a 10.1-fold increase in the risk of developing erosions, smoking a 3.7-fold increase, and age greater than 60 years a 2.2-fold increase. A cut-off value of seven pack years was determined for smoking where the risk associated with light smokers was similar to that of non-smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BMI, smoking, and age are important risk factors for pelvic organ prolapse surgery. Our data could be used to stratify patients according to their risk so that preventative measures can be taken in high-risk patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Section of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tor Vergata University Hospital, Viale Oxford 81, Rome, Italy. araco@libero.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Araco
authors.forename: Gianpiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gravante
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sorge
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Overton
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Vita
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Primicerio
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dati
authors.forename: Placido
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Araco
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Piccione
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011126:Polypropylenes; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D014596:Uterine Prolapse / Q000601:surgery*; D014621:Vagina / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D011126:Polypropylenes