Vaginal Pessaries

With mesh surgery for prolapse sometimes proving problematic, there has been a resurgence of professional medical interest in more traditional methods for the management of prolapse and of stress urinary incontinence. This concise guide to the practical aspects of pessary use will be of interest to all gynecologists involved in the clinical management of the patient with these problems.

Contents: Historical review * Pessaries for pelvic organ prolapse * Incontinence pessaries * Pessary fitting * Pessary care * Outcomes of pessary use * Current clinical studies on vaginal pessaries

Cover image of vaginal pessaries © 2019 Rick Hicaro, Jr., Chicago, IL 60647, USA

Teresa Tam, MD, FACOG, FACS, is a gynecologist in private practice at All for Women Healthcare, SC in Chicago and Skokie, Illinois; she is also the Director of Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgery at Amita Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. Since 2014, she has been invited annually to be a clinical seminar speaker on the topic of vaginal pessaries at the Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Matthew F. Davies, MD, FACOG, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Penn State University as well as Chief of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Penn State Health – Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania. His other roles are as Vice-Chair of Clinical Quality and Patient Safety and Assistant Residency Program Director. Formerly the Assistant Fellowship Director in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Dr. Davies’ second fellow was Dr. Teresa Tam; together they developed a video on pessary insertion techniques when she was in the fellowship.