Colporrhaphy is a surgical procedure

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 in humans that repairs a defect in the wall of the vagina

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

. It is the surgical intervention for both cystocele

Cystocele

A cystocele is a medical condition that occurs when the tough fibrous wall between a woman's bladder and her vagina is torn by childbirth, allowing the bladder to herniate into the vagina. Urethroceles often occur with cystoceles....

 (protrusion of the urinary bladder

Urinary bladder

The urinary bladder is the organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys before disposal by urination. A hollow muscular, and distensible organ, the bladder sits on the pelvic floor...

 into the vagina) and rectocele

Rectocele

A rectocele results from a tear in the rectovaginal septum . Rectal tissue bulges through this tear and into the vagina as a hernia...

 (protrusion of the rectum

Rectum

The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...

into the vagina).

The repair may be to either or both of the anterior (front) or posterior (rear) vaginal walls, thus the origin of some of its alternative names.