Kamran P. Sajadi

Neurogenic aspects of stress urinary incontinence

Purpose of review Vaginal childbirth is a significant risk factor for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Women with SUI demonstrate dysfunction of the pelvic floor and pudendal nerve. Animal models of SUI have been developed to investigate its pathophysiology and for preclinical testing of potential treatments. Recent findings Vaginal distension, a method of simulating childbirth injury in animals, produces a reliable decrease in leak point pressure (LPP), a measure of urethral resistance to leakage and quantification of SUI severity in animals. In addition to ischemia and direct tissue damage, vaginal distension causes denervation of the external urethral sphincter (EUS). Pudendal nerve crush produces a similar decrease in LPP, whereas combined PNC and vaginal distension injury delays recovery of LPP compared with either single injury alone. Neurophysiologic studies have elucidated the results of each injury and their combination on pudendal nerve and EUS function. Urethrolysis, electrocautery, and pudendal nerve transection produce more durable functional impairment via both structural damage and denervation. Pubourethral ligament injury eliminates the structural support of the urethra, but its neurologic effects are unknown. Summary Animal models demonstrate a complex interplay between tissue damage and pudendal nerve dysfunction, and provide insight into the importance of neuroregeneration in the recovery of continence.

Assessing Internet Health Information on Female Pelvic Floor Disorders

PURPOSE While health information on the Internet on female pelvic floor disorders is abundant, to our knowledge there has been no comprehensive evaluation of the quality of this material. We assessed health information on the Internet using Health on the Net Foundation principles as they pertain to female pelvic floor disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS Web sites were searched using the key words urinary incontinence, vaginal, uterine or pelvic organ prolapse and overactive bladder. The first 150 websites identified for each female pelvic disorder were assessed for Health on the Net Foundation certification using an automated toolbar function. The specific sponsorship of each web site was also recorded. RESULTS All searched domains for female pelvic floor disorders revealed that most websites were not certified. The certification rate for urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and overactive bladder was 29%, 27% and 27%, respectively. Overall websites were sponsored by for profit commercial entities (44%), urologist/specialty societies (30%), government/educational organizations (16%), nonprofit organizations (9%) and law firms (1%). Nonprofit organizations (40%) and government/educational organization (38%) sponsored websites were more likely to be certified than those sponsored by commercial entities (25%) and urologist/specialty societies (23%) (p=0.036). CONCLUSIONS The Internet has become a heavily used resource for the distribution and acquisition of health information. Availability notwithstanding, certification and validation are lacking for most sites related to information on female pelvic floor disorders. As we move forward, improvement in the quality of information on the Internet is imperative along with proper guidance to patients using the Internet as a reference.

The rapidly increasing usefulness of social media in urogynecology

Objective We assessed the availability and quality of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse information in social medias and the growth of such information in the past 13 months. Methods We focused on the most popular social medias (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) to evaluate the key words “urogynecology,” “pelvic organ prolapse,” “stress incontinence,” “urge incontinence,” and “incontinence.” Initial evaluation included top 30 search results for key word “incontinence” to compare with our study in 2010, followed by a secondary search using the top 100 items. Results were classified as useful or not useful and then further categorized by health care providers, others, commercial, or humorous in intent. Results with the intent of providing information were presumed to be informative. Results Comparative search over a 13-month period showed a stable amount of useful information, 40% to 39%, but an increase in the number of health professionals (22% vs 13%). However, of the 817 search results, 406 (50%) were medically useful. Only 28% were written by health professionals, but of the informative results, 56% were written by health professionals. Finally, specific search terms provided the highest relevant and useful information, but also limited the number of search items found. Conclusions Over 13 months, there was an increase in useful information presented from health professionals. These changes may reflect the medical community’s growing awareness of the usefulness of social media. If these trends continue, we predict the use of these medias for medical purposes will continue to increase among medical professionals.

Laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: Six months of fellowship training doesn't prevent the learning curve when incorporating into a lower volume practice

INTRODUCTION To assess whether 6 months of standard laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) training reduces the learning curve. METHODS A single urologist (JAB) performed two 3-month fellowships at medical centers with high-volume LRP surgeons (Thomas Jefferson University, 2002 and Massachusetts General Hospital, 2003). He participated in 29 transperitoneal and 23 extraperitoneal LRPs, performing part or all (2) of 28 cases. He subsequently initiated a LRP program at our institution in July 2003, performing 32 procedures between July 2003 and June 2006 (excluding a 3-month 2004 robotic surgery sabbatical). Six residents served as assistant. RESULTS Median patient age, BMI, and preoperative PSA were 58 (46-71) years, 30 (21-37), and 5.4 (3.2-13.6) ng/ml, respectively. Median estimated blood loss (EBL) and operative time were 400 (50-1700) ml and 411 (282-652) minutes. Median hospital stay, catheterization, and follow-up were 2 (1-12) days, 15 (8-52) days, and 10 (1-30) months, respectively. Ten (31%) and 6 (19%) underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy and open conversion. Five patients (16%) received transfusion. Twenty-three (72%) were pathologic stage pT2 and 9 (28%) pT3. Thirteen, 15, and 3 specimens were Gleason 6, 7, and > or =8, respectively. Fifteen (47%) had positive surgical margins (14 apical and 7 other sites). Nineteen (59%) had complications and 4 (12.5%) salvage radiation therapy. Of 20 patients followed 12 months, 12 (60%) are continent (pad free) and 4 (27%) potent patients remain so with or without PDE5 inhibitor. CONCLUSION Six months of training (52 cases, 28 as surgeon for part or all) did not alleviate the LRP learning curve.

Bladder Augmentation and Urinary Diversion for Neurogenic LUTS: Current Indications

Augmentation cystoplasty and urinary diversion are no longer commonplace in the management of patients with neurogenic bladder, but remain an important surgical treatment for those with refractory LUTS who have failed neuromodulation and onabotulinum toxin treatment or who are not candidates for those treatments. Augmentation is an option in patients who can perform intermittent catheterization and is usually performed with ileum or large intestine. Some patients benefit from continent cutaneous catherizable channels. Supravesical urinary diversion may be necessary in more severe cases. Ileovesicostomies are being supplanted by indwelling suprapubic catheters, and when catheters fail conduits may be a better option. When feasible, the diverted bladder should be excised to avoid pyocystis.

Overactive bladder after sling surgery

Midurethral sling surgery has become the new gold standard for the management of stress urinary incontinence. A significant number of patients will have preoperative symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB), including urgency, frequency, nocturia, and/or urgency urinary incontinence; however, 5% to 25% of women will report persistent, worsening, or de novo OAB after sling surgery. Some cases of OAB after sling surgery are known complications that should be recognized promptly and corrected, including urinary tract infection, urinary tract foreign body, and bladder outlet obstruction. For the remainder, the diagnosis and management of idiopathic postoperative OAB can be complicated. Preoperative clinical and urodynamic factors, as well as the choice of sling, may be helpful in predicting these patients and counseling them appropriately. When standard conservative therapy for OAB fails, sling incision, sacral neuromodulation, and botulinum toxin may be useful adjuncts.

Pudendal Nerve Stretch Reduces External Urethral Sphincter Activity in Rats

PURPOSE Most animal models of stress urinary incontinence simulate maternal injuries of childbirth since delivery is a major risk factor but they do not reproduce the nerve stretch known to occur during human childbirth. We hypothesized that pudendal nerve stretch produces reversible dysfunction of the external urethral sphincter. MATERIALS AND METHODS Female virgin Sprague-Dawley® rats were anesthetized with urethane. Bilateral pudendal nerve stretch or sham injury was performed for 5 minutes. External urethral sphincter electromyography and leak point pressure were recorded immediately before and after, and 10, 30, 60 and 120 minutes after pudendal nerve stretch. Post-pudendal nerve stretch results were compared to prestretch values and to values in sham injured animals. The pudendal nerves underwent qualitative histological assessment. The nucleus of Onuf was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction for β-APP and c-Fos expression as markers of neuronal activity and injury. RESULTS A total of 14 rats underwent bilateral pudendal nerve stretch (9) or sham injury (5). Each nerve was stretched a mean ± SEM of 74% ± 18% on the left side and 63% ± 13% on the right side. Electromyography amplitude decreased significantly immediately after stretch compared to before stretch and after sham injury (p = 0.003) but it recovered by 30 minutes after stretch. There was no significant change in leak point pressure at any time. Two hours after injury histology showed occasional neuronal degeneration. β-APP and c-Fos expression was similar in the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS Acute pudendal nerve stretch produces reversible electrophysiological dysfunction but without leak point pressure impairment. Pudendal nerve stretch shows promise in modeling injury. It should be tested as part of a multi-injury, chronic, physiological model of human childbirth injury.

Robotic pelvic organ prolapse surgery.

Robotic sacrocolpopexy (RSC) has rapidly gained popularity over the past 10 years, owing to claims that it is associated with a reduced learning curve compared with standard laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC) and that it has equal efficacy to the gold-standard treatment, abdominal sacrocolpopexy (ASC). The specifics of the surgical technique used for RSC vary widely, but the basic steps and principles are largely the same. Although complication rates are low, specific complications can be minimized by meticulous attention to surgical technique at several important points in the procedure. Multiple levels of evidence support the efficacy of RSC, and show that it is associated with a shorter hospital stay and convalescence than ASC. The learning curve for RSC usually comprises 10–20 procedures but for those with extensive experience of laparoscopy it is likely to be even shorter. RSC is more expensive than LSC but cheaper than ASC. As RSC has only been used for about a decade, we await long-term outcomes of more than a few years.

The History of Urology in Cleveland, Ohio

INTRODUCTION Urology in Cleveland, as in the rest of the country, has evolved greatly over the past century. The recent passing of Resnick and Novick warrants a review of Clevelands rich urological history. MATERIALS AND METHODS We reviewed historical and scientific literature and interviewed Cleveland urologists. RESULTS Lower joined his cousin Crile as professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) before they cofounded the Cleveland Clinic (CC) in 1921. Goldblatt at CWRU discovered renovascular hypertension, leading Poutasse at CC to develop renovascular arteriography and bypass surgery. Kolff brought his greatest invention, dialysis, to the United States when he joined CC. Straffon put CCs renal transplant program on the map through his success with deceased donor transplants. Persky, renowned at radical prostatectomies, chaired urology at CWRU for nearly 30 years and trained 6 future university department chairpersons. Resnick succeeded him and became one of the eminent figures in urology; an authority on numerous subjects, president of the American Urological Association and American Board of Urology (ABU) and Editor of the Journal of Urology. Novick, who became chairman at CC in 1985, was the consummate renal surgeon; he was adept at renal revascularization and transplantation, but his greatest surgical innovation was the partial nephrectomy. He likewise held many positions, including president of the ABU. CONCLUSIONS Cleveland has been a driving force in the evolution of urology in the last century. Resnick and Novick led a golden age of urology for several decades until their recent untimely passings.

Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation and overactive bladder.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common and significant problem, affecting 34 million patients with an estimated cost of