The symptoms can be socially debilitating without treatment, but it is rarely life-threatening.The true incidence of rectal prolapse is unknown, but it is thought to be uncommon. As most affected people are elderly, the condition is generally under-reported. It may occur at any age, even in children, but there is peak onset in the fourth and seventh decades. Women over 50 are six times more likely to develop rectal prolapse than men. It is rare in men over 45 and in women under 20. When males are affected, they tend to be young and report significant bowel function symptoms, especially obstructed defecation, or have a predisposing disorder (e.g., congenital anal atresia). When children are affected, they are usually under the age of 3. 35% of women with rectal prolapse have never had children, suggesting that pregnancy and labour are not significant factors. Anatomical differences such as the wider pelvic outlet in females may explain the skewed gender distribution.Associated conditions, especially in younger patients include autism, developmental delay syndromes and psychiatric conditions requiring several medications. Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms include:

history of a protruding mass. degrees of fecal incontinence, (50-80% of patients) which may simply present as a mucous discharge. constipation (20-50% of patients) also described as tenesmus (a sensation of incomplete evacuation of stool) and obstructed defecation. a feeling of bearing down. rectal bleeding
diarrhea and erratic bowel habits.Initially, the mass may protrude through the anal canal only during defecation and straining, and spontaneously return afterwards.
Some researchers advise that internal intussusception be managed conservatively, compared to external rectal prolapse which usually requires surgery.As with external rectal prolapse, there are a great many different surgical interventions described. Generally, a section of rectal wall can be resected (removed), or the rectum can be fixed (rectopexy) to its original position against the sacral vertebrae, or a combination of both methods. Surgery for internal rectal prolapse can be via the abdominal approach or the transanal approach.It is clear that there is a wide spectrum of symptom severity, meaning that some patients may benefit from surgery and others may not. Many procedures receive conflicting reports of success, leading to a lack of any consensus about the best way to manage this problem. Relapse of the intussusception after treatment is a problem. Two of the most commonly employed procedures are discussed below. laparoscopic ventral (mesh) rectopexy (LVR)
This procedure aims to "[correct] the descent of the posterior and middle pelvic compartments combined with reinforcement of the rectovaginal septum".Rectopexy has been shown to improve anal incontinence (fecal leakage) in patients with rectal intussusception. The operation has been shown to have low recurrence rate (around 5%). It also improves obstructed defecation symptoms.Complications include constipation, which is reduced if the technique does not use posterior rectal mobilization (freeing the rectum from its attached back surface).The advantage of the laparoscopic approach is decreased healing time and less complications.