Laparoscopic surgery for pelvic organ prolapse

There is growing interest in laparoscopic procedures for the correction of pelvic organ prolapse. The goals of prolapse surgery are to correct symptomatic pelvic floor defects and reestablish vaginal support resulting in the maintenance or restoration of normal visceral and sexual function. A thorough understanding of pelvic floor support as well as anterior abdominal wall and intra-abdominal, pelvic, and retropubic anatomy must be ascertained before attempting laparoscopic prolapse procedures. As many of these procedures require advanced laparoscopic skills and experienced surgeons, most of the literatures are comprised of case series by expert surgeons, with many of the studies centered on sacral colpopexies. However, the principles of laparoscopic prolapse surgery are based on open procedures and the only difference in the technique should be related to the route of operation; therefore, the efficacy of laparoscopic prolapse procedures should theoretically be comparable to their open abdominal counterparts.