Hi ladies just wondering if anyone had a cystocele repair but the rectocele was left , I recently had an anterior repair and when I woke from surgery was told I had minimal rectocele that they left but surely it would've been better to do both at same time rather than have to go through another surgery at some point x
Hi Helen, I had a cystocele repair last month and had signed an agreement for rectocele repair as well if needed (though unlikely from examination). However, during consultancy in morning of my op, was told by consultant that if rectocele repair was needed, he would not do them together as risk of adhesion between front and back vaginal walls. Perhaps decision was made based on this and severity of rectocele? Hope you are recovering well otherwise x
I signed form for pelvic floor repair and surgeon said that means anything needing repaired will be repaired, but when I woke she said I had minimal rectocele as it was minimal they left it , but surely over time it will get worse like the cystocele did xx
That's exactly what I'd signed for and when I woke up I was told I hadn't needed the post repair or the SSF. Can only assume they'll do what's needed and don't anything unnecessary. My op was only yesterday and given how sore I'm feeling I'm glad I just had two done
I'm guessing they left it because it was minimal. Maybe they thought the risks of fixing it outweighed the benefits?
helen a rectocele repair is the most painful of all pelvic floor repairs and as yours was minimal had you not had a cystocele then I doubt your Urogynaecologist would have operated. A minimal rectocele is unlikely to cause you any problems and by strengthening the pelvic floor muscles around your bladder it is unlikely to get worse. However having said that if your rectocele had been causing problems and your consultant was aware I would want an explanation. Hope that helps
Hi Helen.I had the reverse to you. Had a rectocele repair but had a cystocele too that they didn't repair.It got progressively worse after I had the flu last year and got a really bad cough.Had 2 pessaries but both fell out so am now relying on pelvic floor exercises to keep it where it should be.All well at present but am sure I'll need another op in the future ,which I'm not looking forward to. Hope yours doesn't progress to this x
Hi Helen,
I down for anterior repair only, although I had been having problems at posterior end. They said the problem I was having was caused by prolapse of front wall.
However after op consultant said she had done both , was not told extent of repair as someone interuoted her when she was telling me and she never finished conversation.
The poor solet gad 12 emergencies that morning and two of us were scheduled that day fir ops.
I'm sure my repair at front is not as extensive as last time, but the back repair is starting to feel heavy as I become more mobile and I notice a bit of discomfort when I wake up in morning if I've rolled onto my left side.
I would gave thought it would make sense to do both at same time, don't like the sound of adhesion of walla if done together!
Phyl xx
Oh very interesting Girls. I had cystocoele done 6mths ago & during the quick pre-op visit by surgeon before he headed off to theatre he informed me also that he probably wouldn't also do my Grade 1 rectocoele. I asked why not as I also didn't want to go through 2 surgeries & the long long road to recovery twice. I'm 57 & had decided to get all fixed now while I'm fit & good to go. His reply was "doing both can make things end up too tight in there"!!! But also now wish I had just said I would prefer both done & dusted.
It seems a strange thing to say that it could make things too tight when rectocele and cystocele repairs are performed together all the time on ladies, me included and it didn't cause me that problem.
Robyn,
I had hysterectomy and anterior repair 3 years ago and was sewed up really tight, took forever for swelling to go down. This time different surgeon , anterior rerepaired and posterior repair , no where near as tight thus time, and swelling seems to be going down quicker.
Phyl xx
It's amazing how everyone's experience and recovery can be so different, and yet still some corelation with some of the different stages of recovery.
I suppose it's down to different surgeons and different NHS trusts,no help to us ladies really but then again we've always been at the bottom of the barrel for everything 
Hi Helen I have the same question, I had anterior repair and hysterectomy and now I have a rectocele. The proctologist told me yesterday that a rectocele doesn't appear in 4 months ( I had surgery in November 23), so the rectocele was there before the surgery (no symptoms) but my gyn didn't repair it then. I have to confirm this with my gyn, app next 22nd. My physio explained that when one wall is fixed but not the other one, the weaker wall tend to support all the pressures and that's why the rectocele gets worst in my case. But that's her opinion. I am looking forward to seeing my gyn to ask, there must be a good reason not to touch the rectocele, they are experts and they have their reasons to make decisions I expect they are good reasons!!! Looking forward to reading the other ladies responses!!
Good comment happy hen! Imagine that your meshes stick together arrgggg! I didn't thing about that! Good point!!!!!
Hi Robin I also have a mild rectocele and have many issues in the bathroom, are you thinking of another surgery in the future? I'm under treatment with a physio and wishing it gets better a little...
Sorry Hijadeonagro why would meshes stick together when they are often not used and only for one type of prolapse anyway?
Hi Helen, I think it all depends on the severity of the prolapse and if mesh is needed etc. I actually went is for cystocelle and ended up having rectocelle I too was disappointed they didn't touch fix the cystocelle at the same time but my spec said he it wasn't past stage 1 so he would leave it for now. I had managed to bring my bladder problems under control using kegal exercises and so apart from a bulge into my vagina it wasn't causing me too much concern and he told me with me getting back to the kegal he believed that if I did them as good as before my surgery then the cysocelle wouldn't get worst. He did mention my cystocelle/ wall collapse can be fixed through key hole surgery if needed in the future so that might also be the case with you. Hope this helps give you some closure on the subject so you can start thinking positive healing thoughts , stressing hinders healing. Sending you loads of healing wishes xx
There are only a select few specially trained Urogynaecologists using mesh so the chances of it being used in a woman's operation is fairly slim because of the close monitoring by the Department of Health and the Royal College of Gynaecologists.
That's what I had hoped for this time, my repair to be done via keyhole surgery as recovery time is suppose to be so much quicker, but was told no they can't do a repair via keyhole and would be a vaginal repair. Think it was to do with prolapsed walls and maybe extensive damage done more than 3 years ago to ligaments and tendons when carrying heavy trays of dishes all day.
I remember my Surgeon saying that he didn't think I had mentioned that I had symptoms from the rectocoele. And I thought to myself we never actually discussed them and I wasn't sure of what the symptoms are anyway. My main focus was stress incontinence and made up my mind immediately I knew I had both anterior & posterior prolapses that why wouldn't you just fix both if doing one. So I never persued any major justification for symptoms versus need for surgery. It's there, so fix it! I'm sure I've got symptoms.