Carter-Thomason Uterine Suspension and Positioning by Ligament Investment, Fixation and Truncation

The UPLIFT procedure was performed on a series of 75 women aged 19-49 years (average age 28). The primary indications for performing the UPLIFT procedure were deep dyspareunia (40%), severe dyspareunia (20%) and both deep dyspareunia and severe dysmenorrhea (40%). Each patient was evaluated for degree of retroversion and pelvic pain. Dyspareunia were reproduced by palpation of the retroverted uterus. The UPLIFT procedure was performed in an average of 12 minutes on an outpatient basis. There were no intraoperative complications and all of the women were discharged on the same day.

The pain scores with up to two years follow-up are shown in the graph below. Pain was rated on a 10-point scale (0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain ever experienced) For all 75 women, pain with intercourse decreased from 8.1 to 1.7. Pain with menses decreased from 8.4 to 1.7. No suspension failures were reported.

A distribution of the pain scores is shown in the graph below. After the UPLIFT and associated laparoscopic procedures, 84% of the women (n=63) reported essentially no pain, 7% (n = 5) mild pain and 4% (n=3) moderate pain. Five percent (n=4) experienced pain as severe as prior to surgery.

Of the 20 women with a retroverted uterus and no other significant pathologies, 90% (n=18) had immediate, sustained relief from their symptoms. The other two rated their pain as mild to moderate.