[Neurologic aspects of vesico-vaginal fistula of obstetrical origin]

To study the electromyographic alterations of the urethral sphincter, perineal muscles and lower limbs observed in women with obstetric vesicovaginal fistula.We compared a group of 22 women with obstetric vesicovaginal fistula with a control group of 10 women without fistula. Each woman underwent a neurological examination of the perineum and lower limbs and electromyography of the lower limbs and urethral sphincter. According to the classification proposed by MENSAH, the fistulas were classified as simple (54.5%), complex (31.8%) and complicated (13.6%).Twenty women with VVF presented a peripheral nerve lesion. Five of these patients had a clinical and electromyographic lesion; while the other fifteen patients had a subclinical lesion. 68.18% of the fistula patients presented a clinical neuropathy in the perineum. This lesion was detected on electromyography in all patients with fistula. The severity of this denervation lesion ranged from moderate (36.37%) to severe (63.63%). No neurological lesions were detected in the control group. The degree of denervation has more severe in young women (21-25 years) and in primiparous women. In contrast, the severity of denervation did not appear to be related to the history of the fistula. The risk of treatment failure increased proportionally to the severity of denervation. 73% of fistulas with severe denervation remained "unsuturable", or required multiple operations with disappointing results in the form of persistent vesicosphincteric dysfunction.Although the psychosocial impairment and upper urinary tract repercussions have been well evaluated, the peripheral neurological lesion has always been underestimated in the management of obstetric vesicovaginal fistulas. The authors consider that the fistula is only the apparent manifestation of "neurovesical damage", which remains the decisive factor in the prognosis and which largely explains the high frequency of treatment failure.