Vaginal Pessary
Vaginal pessaries are a great alternative to surgical management if a patient is not a good candidate for surgery, does not desire surgery, or does not have access to a gynecologic surgeon. Pessaries can be used to treat a variety of pelvic floor disorders such as uterine prolapse, urinary incontinence, and urinary retention. Using a pessary prior to surgery can allow tissue inflammation and ulceration to heal properly to ensure a better surgical outcome. Our foam model can be easily made and used to practice fitting the most common pessary types (donut and ring).
Materials:
Vagina/vaginal canal
- Foam beverage can holder/can cooler sleeve/beer koozie
- Circular hose clamp ring, expandable up to 3" or 76mm
Pessaries
- Medical pessaries - donut and incontinence ring
- Lubricant jelly
Preparations:
- Expand the hose clamp to fit around the foam cup holder.
- Tighten so that it is slightly snug
- The clamp should be kept at the 12 o’clock position and is landmark for the pubic arch or symphysis pubis
Instructions:
- Apply lubricant to the pessary and distribute it evenly over the pessary before placement
- Gently squeeze the pessary so that it can be inserted into the vaginal canal
- Push so that the pessary is at the end of the canal; once the pessary is in place it should be oriented vertically toward the clamp or arch
- To remove the pessary, put one finger inside the vaginal canal and hook the finger into the center of the pessary; with gentle traction the pessary can be pulled out