Urology

Can the right graft materials improve the success rates for vaginal repair surgery? Drawing upon the latest research, experts weigh the pros and cons of synthetic and biologic surgical graft materials, citing pore size as arguably the key factor in reducing complications.

Risk management in obstetrics and gynecology

Women with uterine fibroids equal to or larger than 16 weeks in size can be safely and effectively managed with abdominal myomectomy.

Aromatase inhibitors have surpassed tamoxifen in treatment of recurrent breast cancer. Will the same be true for early disease? An expert examines the evidence from ongoing clinical trials.

While nurse-led conservative treatment of postnatal urinary and fecal incontinence may help in the short-term, the benefits do not persist in about 75% of women when followed for 6 years.

Routine episiotomies—performed on more than 1 million pregnant women each year in the United States—have no benefits, cause more complications, and should be stopped immediately, according to the authors of a systematic review of the medical research.

In a previous article, we reviewed coding changes for vaginal colpopexy. This article looks at a related code introduced in CPT 2005 and how to report multiple services provided during the same surgery.

Evidently not, according to a large, Danish, population-based, case–control study.

The 4th Current Issues Update yesterday offered late breaking news in five specialty areas: urogynecology, STD treatment guidelines, reproductive medicine, gynecologic oncology, and maternal-fetal medicine.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Junior Fellows stumped the Professors at ACM's 5th Scientific Session. ACOG's annual brainteaser that pits senior residents against a panel of professors left the profs guessing on three of four test cases.

Each year CPT introduces new codes and makes revisions to existingcodes to better reflect current medical practices. CPT 2005 is nodifferent. This month, we'll look at changes in coding for vaginalcolpopexy. The 2005 CPT codes reflect the expansion and improvementof surgical techniques in the area of female reconstructive surgery

The airline industry didn't wait for validation before they employed simulation in their credentialing program, and surgeons shouldn't either.

Abdominal sacral colpopexy is still the "gold standard" for this complicated problem. But early results with two minimally invasive procedures show promise for safely managing prolapse.

Early diagnosis of m?llerian anomalies is important because they can have a significant impact on a woman?s reproductive potential. Sonographic clues lead the way to prompt and precise classification.

The pathogenic triad of vascular stasis, hypercoagulability, and vascular injury remains the prime initiator of thrombosis, and gynecologic surgery is associated with all three.

Weight loss surgery may increase fertility but it can also heighten her risk of nutritional deficiencies and the GI problems associated with pregnancy. As more patients seek these procedures, ob/gyns need practical guidelines for managing their care.

Miss SC was a 21-year-old G4, P0030 at 21 weeks' gestation by last menstrual period and confirmed by second-trimester ultrasound. Her pregnancy, which had been managed through a clinic, was complicated by multiple urinary tract infections and she had recently been diagnosed with pyelonephritis. The condition was treated with IV antibiotics at a community hospital and she was discharged with a prescription for ampicillin to be taken for 7 days. Miss SC said she felt well until 2 days before her second admission to the same community hospital, when she began having sharp, intermittent right upper-quadrant pain that was unrelated to eating.

What causes male infertility? Look to the Y chromosome, says this leading expert. Among the high-tech solutions worth considering: testicular sperm extraction (TESE), microsurgical epididymal sperm retrieval (MESA), and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Many women have sexual dysfunction, and effective treatments are available for some conditions. Routinely discussing sexual function with your patients, and their partners, is important because dysfunction truly is a couples issue.

It's imperative to identify more HIV-infected women earlier in pregnancy through HIV testing and to reduce mother-to-child transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.

Specially designed visual aids and written materials-intended to help surgeons present treatment options to women newly diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and to help them participate in the treatment decision process-left women better educated about their disease and treatment options.

Urinary incontinence can often be successfully treated without referral, but first ob/gyns need to broach the subject! Two experts tell how to evaluate this widespread condition.