Something else? Ask Aunt Vadge – bottom left of your screen!
Hi there Aunt Vadge,
I had a rectocele repair on 8 December; I’m still bleeding, and I’ve noticed a small protruding bump above the vaginal opening. Is this normal?
Yours,
Bumpy
Age 53, USA
Dear Bumpy,
Because you’re still bleeding and noticing a new bump only weeks after rectocele surgery, the single most important thing is to contact the surgeon or team who did your repair, and soon – ideally this week, or sooner if the bleeding is heavy.
Anything new in a surgical area while you’re still healing should be checked by the people who know exactly what they did and what your tissue should look like at this stage, rather than diagnosed from a description. That’s not because it’s likely to be serious – it usually isn’t – but because it’s the right and safe call after surgery.
For context, so it’s less worrying: a small protrusion above the vaginal opening, especially if you have the kind of lax pelvic tissue that led to the rectocele in the first place, is often a urethral caruncle or a little urethral prolapse – common, benign and treatable – and the location is the clue (right at the urethral opening versus below it, where the Skene’s and Bartholin’s glands sit).
It could also simply be part of the healing or the repair settling. But the still-present bleeding is the detail that means don’t wait and watch – ring your surgical team, describe both the bleeding and the bump, and let them look.
You did the right thing noticing it; now hand it to the people who operated, so they can reassure you or sort it properly.
Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge
This is general information, not a substitute for personalised medical advice – please be guided by your surgical team.
