Materials and Methods
This was a cross-sectional, case-control study comparing preoperative
and postoperative IAP in patients advanced symptomatic uterovaginal
prolapse stage 3 or 4 according to the Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Quantification (POP-Q) system. Each woman in the study group was paired
to a woman of the same age (± 3 years) and similar body mass index (BMI)
(± 2) with POP stage ≤ 2; they underwent a diagnostic dilatation and
curettage (D&C) procedure for postmenopausal bleeding or increased
endometrial thickness. These women constituted the control group. Women
with previous abdominal or inguinal hernia surgery, previous prolapse
surgery, hysterectomy, severe heart disease, lung disease and women who
preferred conservative management or uterus-sparing surgery were
excluded from the study. Written informed consent was obtained from all
patients before enrolment. This study was approved by the institutional
review board. Demographic data including age at surgery, parity,
menopausal status, BMI, previous surgeries and comorbidities were
obtained from patient medical records.