The Benefits of the PROLIFT Procedure

Recent developments in women's heath have brought about the introduction of the PROLIFT procedure to improve damage done to the female pelvic wall. Used as a method for correcting pelvic prolapse, the procedure is having excellent results for the majority of women choosing PROLIFT over more invasive surgeries.

Pelvic prolapse is caused by a weakening of the pelvic floor. It is commonly triggered by labor and childbirth, but the strength of the female pelvic wall tends to continue to diminish with age. It is estimated that 25% of women over the age of 40 suffer from the effects of pelvic prolapse. In addition, about half of women who have had multiple childbirths and about half of those over the age of 50 are affected. As a result of the weakened pelvic wall, the bladder and rectum can actually begin to fall, causing leakage. Other symptoms include back pain and pressure in the vagina, to the point that it sometimes feels as if something is falling out of the body.

While the condition itself is embarrassing for the women involved, the potential treatment has led many to make a difficult choice. Either they must continue on while the condition worsens (as it almost always does), or they must submit to extensive surgery, often a full hysterectomy. In addition to an abdominal incision, these types of surgeries require considerable recovery time.

The PROLIFT procedure is much less invasive and involves a drastically reduced recovery time. Instead of removing the uterus, doctors performing a PROLIFT procedure introduce a synthetic mesh that is used to support it. The mesh is introduced through the vaginal opening and a small incision in the genital area and is then used to hold the female pelvic wall and the organs of the pelvis in their original positions. It is created from the same materials used for sutures, so there is a very low rate of infection or rejection.

A woman undergoing a PROLIFT procedure can expect it to take approximately an hour, and while recovery time will vary, many patients are released after only a day. In most cases, they are able to return to within about a week. Previous methods for treating pelvic prolapse have shown about a 65% success rate, while PROLIFT has shown to be effective in about 84% of cases.