Epidemiological trends in surgery for rectal prolapse in England 2001–2012: an adult hospital population‐based study

Aim To analyse trends in admission and surgery for rectal prolapse in adults in England between 2001 and 2012 as well as prolapse reoperation rates. Method Analysis of data derived from a comparative longitudinal population‐based cohort study using Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Results During the study period, a total of 25 238 adults, of median age 73 [interquartile range (IQR: 58–83] years, underwent a total of 29 379 operations for rectal prolapse (mean: 2662 per annum). The female to male ratio of this group of patients was 7:1. Median length of hospital stay was 3 (IQR: 1–7) days with an overall in‐hospital mortality rate of 0.9%. Total number of admissions (4950 in 2001/2002 vs 8927 in 2011/2012) and of patients undergoing prolapse surgery (2230 in 2001/2002 vs 2808 in 2011/2012) significantly increased over the study period (P