Conservative treatment of pelvic organ prolapse using a ring pessary is more likely to fail in women with certain characteristics, including prior hysterectomy, Australian researchers say.

Gynaecologists from the University of Sydney have identified that women who are premenopausal or have a large genital hiatus and perineal body are also at greater risk of treatment failure. 

The team studied outcomes for 84 women who agreed to have a ring pessary inserted for pelvic organ prolapse at the Nepean Hospital’s public outpatient clinic between 2013 and 2015.

Their aim was to find factors that could be determined at the initial appointment by pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POPQ) or four-dimensional translabial ultrasound that predicted outcomes with the device.