Need advice on Vaginal Repair Surgery?

Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery

Vaginal repair surgery (colporrhaphy) is an operation available at Kingsbridge Private Hospital Group. The operation lifts and strengthens the walls of your vagina to restore its normal support.

About Vaginal Repair Surgery

The muscles and the ligaments that support your vagina and womb can become overstretched and weakened if you’re obese or after certain events, such as after childbirth or the menopause. This can cause your vagina and womb to drop down. Your bladder and bowel can also bulge into your vagina. The bulge of the womb, bladder or bowel into your vagina is known as a prolapse.

A vaginal prolapse can be repaired with vaginal repair surgery at Kingsbridge Private Hospital by our team of experienced experts. The operation helps to strengthen the walls of your vagina and will help to ease your symptoms.

What are the alternatives?

If your prolapse is mild, alternative treatments may be recommended to you before you have surgery.

These include:

pelvic floor muscle exercises, which will help to strengthen your weakened pelvic floor muscles

vaginal pessaries, which will provide mechanical support to your prolapsed organs

These alternative treatments may help control your symptoms. However, if your prolapse is more severe, you may need to have surgery. Your Consultant will discuss your options with you.

Preparing for vaginal repair surgery

Vaginal Repair Surgery usually requires a hospital stay of one to two days, depending on the type of surgery you have and how well you recover. The operation may be done under general anaesthesia, which means you will be asleep during the procedure, or under local anaesthesia, which completely blocks any pain from the area. You will stay awake during the operation under local anaesthesia.

How long does vaginal repair surgery take?

The operation usually takes about an hour but this will depend on the type of operation you have. The exact type of surgery you have will depend on where your prolapse is and how severe it is.

Recovering from vaginal repair surgery

It usually takes about six weeks to make a full recovery from vaginal repair surgery, but this varies between individuals, so it's important to follow advice from your surgeon at Kingsbridge Private Hospital Group.

It’s best not to have sex until at least six weeks after your operation. Your surgeon will give you advice about when you can resume your usual activities and return to work at your follow-up appointment.

What are the risks?

As with every procedure, there are some risks associated with vaginal repair surgery. Risks are specific to each patient. You will be advised of any risks during your consult at Kingsbridge Private Hospital.

Side-effects

Side-effects are the unwanted but mostly temporary effects you may get after having the procedure.

Side-effects of vaginal repair surgery includes:

vaginal bleeding

Complications

Complications are when problems occur during or after the operation. The possible complications of any operation include an unexpected reaction to the anaesthetic, excessive bleeding or developing a blood clot, usually in a vein in the leg (deep vein thrombosis, DVT).

Complications of vaginal repair include:

infection – you may need to take antibiotics to treat this
problems passing urine – this usually improves without further treatment
mesh-related complications – your surgeon will discuss these with you before surgery

Vaginal repair surgery doesn't always repair a prolapse completely and some women find that the prolapse comes back. If this happens, you may need more surgery. Vaginal repair surgery may not ease the problems a prolapse can cause, such as bladder and bowel symptoms or resolve sexual problems. It’s important that you discuss expectations at your consultation.

Vaginal Scar Repair

Scar tissue can cause many women pain during intercourse or during their daily lives. At Kingsbridge Private Hospital we offer surgery to help get your life back to normal.

A number of deformities of the labia, hymen or vagina can be helped with the use of plastic surgery. This type of surgery can be performed for both functional and aesthetic reasons at Kingsbridge Private Hospital.

Damage caused by childbirth

Ladies are often left with painful scarring following childbirth: mostly from an episiotomy (a cut between the vagina and anus) or tearing during childbirth. However it is also possible for the labia to be damaged.

Correction of painful scarring is one of the most common genital surgical procedures for women.

Damage caused by trauma

Scarring of the genital area can also be caused by an accident (trauma). Surgical correction can offer a solution for many women who are suffering discomfort. This treatment is also suitable for purely aesthetic reasons if needed.

It is important that you discuss the option of surgery before deciding to go ahead with the procedure. Speak to a GP before or book an appointment with a Gynaecologist or Plastic Surgeon. This can help to inform you of any risks involved in the procedure and also help provided a realistic expectation of what results you can expect following the procedure.

Reconstructive procedures may require the use of complicated skin grafts or flap designs in order to compensate for tissue loss through religious mutilation or inadvertent surgery performed in the past.

Scar hypertrophy

Scar hypertrophy, which can cause severe pain during intercourse, can usually be improved by plastic surgical revision of the scar tissue by a Consultant at Kingsbridge Private Hospital.

If your scars are recent, repeated steroid injections may offer a solution to reduce discomfort and pain. Your Consultant at Kingsbridge Private Hospital will discuss these options with you.

Our specialists at Kingsbridge Private Hospital will advise you on the treatment best suited to your individual needs.

Patients in most cases are very happy following vaginal scar revision surgery. Patients who have had surgery at Kingsbridge Private Hospital benefit from aesthetic improvement and experience considerably less pain or none at all.

Their quality of life is improved significantly.