Wiener Neustadt hospital performs first levator reconstructions

Doctors at the University Hospital Wiener Neustadt-Hochegg have carried out Austria’s first levator plasties, a surgical method for treating pelvic floor injuries after childbirth, ORF reported. Six women have so far been successfully treated.

During a spontaneous birth, the levator muscle in the pelvic floor can become overstretched or partially torn. Such injuries are often not externally visible and therefore frequently go unnoticed. According to the hospital, partial tears occur in up to 10 percent of spontaneous births and in up to 30 percent of births involving vacuum extraction.

The consequences can include an unstable pelvic floor, pain or other problems during sexual intercourse, difficulty controlling urine or stool, and restrictions in sporting activities. If left untreated, a prolapse of the uterus, vagina, bladder or rectum can also develop.

The operations were performed at the hospital’s Wiener Neustadt location by Balázs Stenczer, senior consultant for urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic floor surgery, together with Frédéric Ris, who developed the method and assisted with the first procedure of its kind in Austria. A specialised diagnosis and careful individual assessment are required before a levator plasty can be performed.

Stenczer said the hospital plans to develop the method further through scientific studies and to combine it with other pelvic floor operations for suitable patients. He also stressed the importance of raising awareness, saying that the earlier levator injuries are detected, the more targeted treatment can be and the more complications may be prevented.

Lower Austria’s health councillor, Anton Kasser of the Austrian People’s Party, said the procedure demonstrated the region’s medical expertise and capacity for innovation. The hospital could not tell ORF which alternative surgical methods had previously been used or when levator plasties would become a permanent service at the hospital.