Cystocele Repair

A cystocele is when the bladder falls down and often becomes visible. Urinary leakage often accompanies a cystocele. Cystoceles may cause pelvic pressure or just be unsightly. Cystocele repair (also called Anterior Repair or Anterior Colporrhaphy is the surgical reduction of the bulge to place the bladder back into its normal anatomic location. The traditional repair of plicating or overlapping tissues with suture unfortunately has a very high failure rate ranging from 25 to 60 percent. It is certainly one of the most challenging surgeries gynecologists perform. More modern surgery treats cystoceles as a hernia of the bladder into the vagina resulting in the use of mesh or donor tissues as a patch or graft. This appears to have resulted in improved succerss rates.