women s health issues
Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)
Diagnosis of Pelvic Organ Prolapse
A pelvic examination Doctors can usually diagnose pelvic organ prolapse by doing a Pelvic Examination with a speculum (an instrument that spreads the walls of the vagina apart). A doctor may insert one finger in the vagina and one finger in the rectum at the same time to determine how severe a rectocele or enterocele is. A woman may be asked to bear down (as when having a bowel movement) or to cough. She may be examined while standing with one foot on a stool. The resulting pressure in the pelvis from bearing down, coughing, and/or standing may make a pelvic organ prolapse more obvious. Procedures to determine how well the bladder and rectum are functioning may be done. For example, doctors often measure the amount of urine that the bladder can hold without leaking, the amount of urine left in the bladder after urination, and the rate of urine flow. If a woman has a problem with the passage of urine or urinary incontinence, doctors may use a flexible viewing tube to view the inside of the bladder (a procedure called cystoscopy) or the urethra (a procedure called urethroscopy). These procedures help doctors determine whether drugs or surgery is the best treatment. If the bladder is not functioning well, women are more likely to need surgery. Rarely, if there are sores in the vagina or on the cervix, doctors may need to take a sample and examine it to help them determine what treatment is needed and whether cancer is present. 