Genital prolapse

Diseases and functional disorders of the female pelvic floor are continuously gaining in importance due to the demographic developments with the increasing life expectations of women and the demands on the preservation of the quality of life at all ages. In a Swedish study the prevalence of genital prolapse in a subgroup of women between 20 and 59 years old was given as 31% and the prevalence in women between 50 and 79 years old increased up to 41%. In recent years the German working group for urogynecology and plastic surgical pelvic floor reconstruction (AGUB) together with colleagues from Austria and Switzerland has developed high-quality guidelines for all relevant diseases and for all German-speaking regions in Europe. The principal steps of the diagnostics as well as the conservative and surgical treatment are presented. Special emphasis is placed on the various vaginal, abdominal and minimally invasive access routes by laparoscopy as well as uterus-preserving surgical procedures. Finally, an assessment of alloplastic mesh materials is carried out as reflected in the currently available literature.