How common is prolapse?

50% of women who have had children complain of some vaginal prolapse but only 10 to 20% of these women seek medical attention. Over 10% women undergo pelvic floor surgery for the management of genital prolapse and or urinary incontinence. Up to 1/3 of these women will undergo repeat surgery. The incidence of surgery for prolapse seems to increase with age. The peak age group for women undergoing urinary incontinence surgery is the 40-50 year old group. Increasingly we are seeing younger women who are unwilling to “put up with” these problems.

Graph of Incidence

Bar graph of cumulative incidence of primary operations for pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence by age group (in years)

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