TRANSABDOMINAL REPAIR OF VESICOVAGINAL FISTULA: AN EXPERIENCE OF 27 CASES

Objective: to review the causes of vesicovaginal fistula and outcome of its repair through transabdominal approach. methodology: this is a descriptive cross sectional study which was conducted in surgical “d” unit, khyber teaching hospital peshawar from january 2004 to december 2009. the record of all cases of vesicovaginal fistula that had undergone transabdominal repair was reviewed. complex vesicovaginal fistula cases were excluded.. operative findings and procedure’s details were obtained from operation notes. post-operative follow up findings after one week, three weeks, forty days and three months were noted for every case. results: a total of 27 cases had undergone transabdominal repair for vesicovaginal fistula with age ranging from 26 to 63 years. twenty two cases developed vesicovaginal fistula as a result of obstructed labour and five as a result of gynaecological surgery (post-hysterectomy). mean post-operative hospital stay was seven days. failure of repair was seen in one case only. five cases were lost during follow up. eight (29.63%) cases developed urinary tract infection, and two (7.40%) cases developed transient urinary stress incontinence. conclusion: this study suggests that obstetrical trauma is the commonest cause for developing vesicovaginal fistula and the transabdominal approach gives satisfactory results in its repair.