The bladder is a pelvic organ with a hollow body.  Its main function is retaining urine to make voiding controllable. Mainly, together with the urethra, uterus, and rectum, it is supported by the connective tissues of the vaginal wall which fix its placement. These connective tissues spread across the vaginal wall.  With age, these tissues stretch and shatter prompting the pelvic organs to be dislocated. This condition is called pelvic organ prolapse. 

In bladder prolapse, the bladder drops into the front wall of the vagina causing a number of debilitating symptoms like pelvic pain, tissues bulging out of the vagina, incomplete voiding, stress incontinence, infections, low back pain, and dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse).  Women who have had their uterus removed, and those who have had multiple childbirths are most possible to acquire pelvic organ prolapse. Women after menopause are prone to this as well. In menopause, there is a lower production of the hormone estrogen. Since estrogen helps with the production of collagen in the body, lower estrogen level also means low collagen level.   When the body’s collagen level is down, pelvic tissues sag and crash.

The treatment options for this condition is limited. Vaginal mesh implantation is one of these. It is known to many women as the modern treatment for Stress Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Organ Prolapse.  But, it has been associated with harmful after effects that are hard to correct if not permanent. These adverse events include mesh erosion, pain, bleeding, recurrence of prolapse, problems with urination, pelvic organ perforation, and infections.

Because of these deadly complications associated with vaginal mesh implantation, many recipients of vaginal mesh have filed different lawsuits against mesh manufacturers all over the United States.   Thousands of lawsuits have been filed, and it is certain to multiply since mesh producers are still marketing vaginal mesh.  Because of these increasing number of vaginal mesh lawsuits, recipients and producers of these deadly medical devices are both requesting the Judicial Panel for a multidistrict litigation of defective vaginal mesh lawsuits.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted promptly on these issues by issuing health notification about the potential danger of vaginal mesh products. Despite the announcement made by the FDA, a great number of surgeons are still doing vaginal mesh procedures to treat patients with prolapsed pelvic organs like the urethra, bladder, rectum, and uterus. Among these, urethral and bladder prolapse are the two most common forms.

References:

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/prolapsed_bladder/page5_em.htm#Exams and Tests http://bladder-problems.org/prolapsed-bladder-and-the-fixes/ http://www.cigna.com/individualandfamilies/health-and-well-being/hw/medical-topics/pelvic-organ-prolapse-tv1000.html