Pelvic organ prolapse surgery in the United States, 1997

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to describe the prevalence, regional rates and demographic characteristics, morbidity, and mortality of pelvic organ prolapse surgeries in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: We used data from the 1997 National Hospital Discharge Survey and the 1997 National Census to calculate rates of pelvic organ prolapse surgeries by age, race, and regional trends. RESULTS: In 1997, 225,964 women underwent surgery for prolapse (22.7 per 10,000 women). The mean age of these women was 54.6 years (15.2). The South had the highest rate of surgery (29.3 per 10,000) and the Northeast had the lowest (16.1 per 10,000). The surgery rate for whites (19.6 per 10,000) was 3 times greater than that for African Americans (6.4 per 10,000). Although 16% of surgeries had complications, mortality was rare (0.03%). CONCLUSION: Pelvic organ prolapse surgery is common. Regional and racial differences in rates of surgery may reflect physician practice, patient preferences, and gynecologic care utilization.