PREPARE: Perioperative REhabilitation Around Vaginal Prolapse RepAir Surgery for Recovery Enhancement

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common problem faced by millions of patients in the United States, leading to an estimated 200,000 surgeries per year. The majority of patients in the US undergoing vaginal suspension between the ages of 60-79. Deconditioning and decreased functional status after surgery can be more pronounced in elderly populations. It is important to explore ways to improve postoperative functioning for this vulnerable population.

This research study is about how good your physical functioning is after surgery. The physical functioning we are studying consist of normal daily activities, such as walking up and down stairs. This study is for patients with pelvic organ prolapse who are getting vaginal surgery to correct the prolapse.

By doing this study, we hope to learn more about ways to improve physical functioning after vaginal prolapse repair surgery. Patients will be chosen at random to participate in or not to participate in a home daily exercise program for 6 weeks. We have participants who do not participate in the home exercise program so that we can compare their physical functioning to the participants who do exercise at home. By doing this comparison, we can find out if the home exercise program helps postoperative physical functioning.

If you are in the home exercise group, a possible benefit is to have better physical functioning after surgery. If you are not assigned to the exercise group, the benefit is being a part of a study that could potentially help other women and yourself in the future to have better physical functioning after surgery. Patients will be enrolled in teh study only if they are undergoing specific surgeries at the University of New Mexico to correct their pelvic organ prolapse.