The role of the urogynecologist with sphincteroplasty: a multidisciplinary approach to a very common, yet devastating problem

Fecal incontinence is a disorder that affects many women, particularly those that have been multiparous. Aside from the physical disability, this disorder affects the psychosocial aspect along with issues of self-confidence and self esteem. Sphincteroplasty for fecal incontinence is an operation that has been well described to address this problem and offers great success. There, however, are many patients that suffer from pelvic organ prolapse concurrently, along with fecal incontinence. The pelvic organ prolapse is often amenable to surgical correction, however, many gynecologists prefer to fix this is a setting with minimal fecal contamination, thus obviating a joint and multi-disciplinary approach with colorectal surgery. We present a series of 17 consecutive cases where a sphincteroplasty was performed, with or without a concomitant gynecological procedure for solid organ prolapse.