It may not be necessary for people who have prolapse surgery for pelvic floor disorders to wait to get started exercising again, US doctors report.

In a new study challenging standard postoperative restrictions, they found that patients who resumed exercising soon after pelvic organ prolapse surgery do just as well as those who refrained from exercise for six weeks.

“This study is a paradigm shift for urogynaecologists — it is practice changing,” said senior author urogynaecologist Dr Matthew Barber, from the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.

“For decades, surgeons have been instructing patients to avoid activity after reconstructive surgery, and we now know that is unnecessary,” he said.