Natural history of anterior mucosal prolapse

Case notes of 250 patients (M:F, 1:2.7; age 48.7 +/- 16.5 years) in whom anterior mucosal prolapse had been diagnosed, at one hospital between 1974 and 1976, were reviewed. The commonest symptoms were bleeding (56 per cent), pain (32 per cent) and a sense of prolapse (32 per cent). The prevalence of constipation was significantly higher among women (47 per cent) than men (29 per cent). Perineal descent was present in 20 per cent of cases and was significantly more frequently associated with excessive straining at defaecation (28 per cent) compared with patients in whom there was no history of excessive straining (12 per cent). Sixty-six patients (26 per cent) experienced recurring symptoms over the 10 year period following presentation but did not deteriorate, while 28 patients (11 per cent) deteriorated. Deterioration was associated with a history of symptoms for longer than 1 year at the time of presentation, female sex, and the presence of perineal descent on clinical examination. The risk of developing perineal descent was less than 10 per cent over the 5 years after presentation while that of developing sphincter laxity among patients who had already developed perineal descent was 30 per cent over this period. Complete rectal prolapse occurred in 20 per cent (3/15) of patients with clinical perineal descent and sphincter laxity but was not seen in the absence of these signs. The results of treatment by submucosal phenol injection, mucosal rubber banding, or glycerine suppositories were the same.