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
Supplies

Supplies

Assembled pessary model with the pessary in the proper position

Assembled pessary model with the pessary in the proper position

Instructions:

  1. Apply lubricant to the pessary and distribute it evenly over the pessary before placement
  2. Gently squeeze the pessary so that it can be inserted into the vaginal canal
  3. 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
  4. 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