骨盤臓器脱に対するサポート下着の使用経験

The effectiveness of supportive underwear for women with pelvic organ prolapse

　骨盤臓器脱の女性20名（年齢67±15歳）で，サポート下着（フェミクッション^®）を使用した。20名中13名（65％）がサポート下着を2か月後の評価時点，さらに手術または最終受診まで継続使用した。7名は違和感，装着のしにくさ，出血のために使用を短期で中止した。自覚的に下垂症状は16名（80％），尿排出障害は8名（40％），頻尿は3名（15％）で改善した。継続使用した13名中8名はメッシュ手術を施行または手術待ち中で，5名はサポート下着での経過観察を希望した。骨盤臓器脱のサポート下着は，手術を望まない例や手術待ち期間の下垂感，排尿障害の改善に一定の効果が期待できる。

　Conservative treatment of pelvic organ prolapse（POP）has limited options such as pelvic floor exercises and ring pessary. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of supportive underwear（Femicushion^®）for women with POP. Symptomatic women with POP-Q stage 2-4 used supportive underwear and were followed up for more than 8 weeks. Of 20 women（mean age：67＋/－15 years old）enrolled in this study,13（65％）continued to use the wear until their last visit or surgical operation,and 6（35％）discontinued the usage due to discomfort,bleeding,and/or difficulty to wear. Improvements in the descending sensation of prolapse,voiding difficulty,and urinary frequency occurred in 80％,40％,and 15％ of the women,respectively. Among 13 patients who continued to use the supportive underwear,8 finally underwent operation or were scheduled to operation,and 5 decided to be followed up with the product. This supportive underwear may become one of the useful options for prolapse patients who must wait for operation or who want to avoid operation.