Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026
Quantification of Levator Ani Hiatus Enlargement by Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Males and Females with Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Published on: April 17, 2019
Influence of bladder volume on pelvic organ prolapse quantification results
Andreas Reich1, Frauke Kohorst, Rolf Kreienberg
1Department of Urogynecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. andreas.reich@uniklinik-ulm.de
Aims:
To compare the degree of pelvic organ prolapse between examinations performed with full and empty bladder in patients without any prolapse and with pelvic organ prolapse stage I or II using the pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POPQ) system.
Methods:
A prospective observational study with 120 consecutive patients with and without symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse was evaluated. All women were examined with full and empty bladder. The data were analyzed by Wilcoxon's signed-rank test.
Results:
With empty bladder 54% had the same stage, 41% had a one-step higher stage and 5% had a two-step higher stage of prolapse. There was an increase in the extent of prolapse in the empty bladder setting at all six site-specific points (Aa, Ba, C, D, Ap, Bp; p < 0.001) but not in the results of genital hiatus, perineal body and total vaginal length.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that the full extent of prolapse may be only assessed with an empty bladder.
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