Constipation symptoms in rectocele repair with and without meshes

Introduction: Rectocele can be defined as the herniation of the front wall of rectum into the posterior of vaginal wall. It has been reported to occur quite often in female patients. Rectocele definition remains inadequate and the success of its treatment is still not satisfactory. Materials and Methods: Patients aged 45-75 years who had a rectocele operation between 2010 and 2017 were included in the study. Patients those who had surgery at least one year ago were included in the study. These patients were invited to outpatient clinics to have their vaginal examinations performed and all symptoms of the patients were recorded. Results: Presence of constipation were found 25.3% of the patients with rectocele. This rate went down to 8.5% after their rectocele repairs and further to 6.5% in those whose repairs involved meshes. Conclusion: In this study it was observed that rectocele repairs resulted in marked improvements in constipation symptoms whether they involved meshes or not. Although constipation is multifactorial and constipation diagnosis involves a combination of various criterias, the main theme of this study was that this symptom was one of the top complaints when presenting to clinics and the symptoms significantly decreased during the treatment process.