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.