disorder in which the rectum bulges into the back wall of the vagina. It is caused when the muscles and connective tissues supporting the rectum and back wall of the vagina are weakened, usually due to repeated childbirth or to aging, and the rectum sags until it abuts the vagina. A rectocele often occurs together with an enterocele, which is a bulge of the small intestine into the vagina. Women with small rectoceles or enteroceles may not feel much distress; a larger and more serious rectocele can cause discomfort and a sagging sensation in the pelvic area and difficulty in emptying the lower bowel. Both conditions can be corrected by surgery in which the small intestine and rectum are pushed back into place and held there by reconstructed pelvic muscles; the walls of the vagina are also restored to their normal shape.