Surgery to repair rectocele

How long is recovery from a rectocele repair? How is rectocele surgery performed? You will have a gauze dressing in your vagina to help stop bleeding. What to do for rectocele?

The dressing will be removed the day after your surgery.

A catheter will drain urine from your bladder. Your nurse will remove it the day after your surgery. You may have some vaginal bleeding. Surgical repair for each condition can be completed at the same time.

The surgery uses a vaginal approach and usually consists of removing excess , stretched tissue that forms the posterior vaginal prolapse. A mesh patch might be inserted to support and strengthen the fascia. The tissue over the rectum is assessed for areas of weakness or broken fascia tissue.

These breaks and weaknesses are repaired with suture and sometimes covered with a graft or mesh. A rectocele occurs when the rectum is forced out of place and begins to put pressure on the back wall of the vagina , causing symptoms such as pain during sex and constipation. These trained physicians can perform surgeries to attempt repair of a rectocele. There are multiple ways to approach the surgery including: transanally (through the anus ), through the perineum (the space between the anus and vagina ), and through the vagina.

There are a number of ways to do rectal prolapse surgery. Because rectocele repair is a major surgery , a doctor will often suggest it only after trying other treatments. Surgery puts the rectum back in place. Sometimes rectocele repair is done at the same time as a hysterectomy ( surgery to remove the uterus).

Rectocele Repair A rectocele is a bulging of the front wall of the rectum into the back of the vagina. The bulge, or herniation, occurs as a result of thinning and weakening of the band of tissue that separates the vagina from the rectum. If it causes symptoms, it needs to be repaired.

The goal of rectocele repair is to strengthen the wall between the vagina and rectum. In this surgical procedure, the doctor will make an incision into the back wall of the vagina. The layers under the vaginal wall are then sutured together in such a way as to tighten the tissues and reinforce the strength of the wall.

If you had a rectocele repair, the bladder catheter will be removed as soon as you are able to use the bathroom on your own.

If you had a cystocele repair, the bladder catheter often needs to stay in longer—sometimes 2-days. This will allow the bladder more time to begin to work normally. Recovery time for rectocele surgery is based on the complications that arise during the surgery or accompanying hospital stay.

The surgery is done with regional anesthesia, where the pelvic area is numb, or general anesthesia, where a person is asleep. This supports the bulging areas in your vagina and rectum. Managing your bowels well is vital for successful recovery and rectocele repair. This surgery fixes the weak walls of your vagina.

Rectocele repair surgery (also called posterior wall repair ) can strengthen and repair the damaged tissue and restore the rectum to its normal position. Vaginal childbirth, chronic constipation, and heavy lifting all increase your risk of rectocele. Usually large rectoceles require surgery to push up the rectum away from the vagina and support it. Then it will stay in a normal position.

It is performed through the vagina when the back wall of vagina is opened. Doctors call this obliterative surgery. Build back the tissue that holds up the bladder.

To do this, the surgeon might use the body’s own tissue or insert artificial mesh.