The POP-Q classification system: looking back and looking forward

Excerpt

Pelvic organ prolapse is one of the most common problems facing every urogynecologist. Understandably, terminology is very important when describing vaginal or uterine descent, for two reasons. First, the physician’s notes must represent the clinical problem so that the physician knows what has been seen and can relate it to a colleague. The second reason is quality assurance and research, where exact terminology is needed to accurately describe changes in pelvic organ prolapse and to be able to make comparisons between institutions and studies. In 1996 Bump et al. published a classification developed by several societies [1]. This POP-Q has been widely adopted and become the de facto standard in clinical medicine and research [2]. …