The University of Lie'ge and Lie'ge University Hospital (CHU) develop a new surgical technique for treating feminine stress urinary incontinenceOctober 14, 2003According to estimates, 10 % of women suffer from urinary incontinence, which can occur at all ages. Stress urinary incontinence is the most prevalent form of the condition and can result from intensive physical exercise, childbirth, weakened pelvic floor muscles, a decrease in blood oestrogen levels, a gynaecological operation or tissue ageing. Most stress urinary incontinence cases can be treated or cured. Several treatments, including surgery, have long helped patients with this psychologically unpleasant, sociologically undermining condition. In the last decade, operating techniques have become less and less invasive, greatly improving patient comfort. In 1995, Prof. Dr Ulf Ulmsten from Sweden developed a "revolutionary" method called TVT (Tension Free Vaginal Tape), which is marketed by Gynecare. During this procedure, a PROLENE® mesh tape is inserted through a small incision in the vagina to support the urethra during stress, thereby preventing urine loss. This relatively simple treatment takes approximately 30 minutes, is performed under local anaesthesia and has excellent results (85% successfully treated).
The TVT technique was introduced in Belgium in 1998. Gynaecologists and urologists created the "Belgium TVT Study Group" in May 1999. In view of the technique's positive results, the Belgian National Sickness and Invalidity Insurance Institute agreed to finance the device in January 2001. Jean de Leval is a Professor at the University of Lie'ge's Medicine Faculty and a urologist at Lie'ge University Hospital. He took part in the Belgium TVT Study Group's activities very early and showed fellow urologists the significance and efficacy of this technique. With a view to constant innovation, Professor de Leval simultaneously contributed to the TVT technique's evolution in order to offer surgeons an additional alternative. At the beginning of the 2000's, the technique for placing the TVT mesh tape evolved. Surgeons began placing the mesh through two natural orifices in the pelvis called obturator holes, using needles guided from the perineum to the vagina ("outside in"). Professor de Leval's technique also places the mesh using the obturator holes, but the novelty in his approach is that the needles placing the mesh pass from the vagina outward through the perineum (i.e., "inside out"), away from other organs. The new method is based on Professor de Leval's Agrégation thesis on continence mechanisms. The new instruments required for the surgical operation were designed by Lie'ge University Hospital in cooperation with Medi-Line, located in the LIEGE Science Park.
The American company Gynecare purchased the technique's marketing rights and will distribute the Lie'ge-developed method throughout the world. The partnership agreement also provides for a number of contributions from Lie'ge partners. Gynecare will work with Lie'ge-based company Medi-Line to produce a part of the medical device, and with Professor de Leval's team and the University Hospital on training aimed at surgeons specialised in this pathology. The University of Lie'ge and Lie'ge University Hospital are very pleased about this agreement, which allows them to promote joint research results and illustrates the successful synergies between the university institution and hospital. | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Stress Current Events and Stress News Articles Sleeping in school Up to 10% of children starting school suffer from sleep disturbances and these may lead to poor performance or behavioral difficulties. Why the 'perfect' body isn't always perfect Having an imperfect body may come with some substantial benefits for some women, according to a new article in the December issue of Current Anthropology. Plants display 'molecular amnesia' Plant researchers from McGill University and the University of California, Berkeley, have announced a major breakthrough in a developmental process called epigenetics. They have demonstrated for the first time the reversal of what is called epigenetic silencing in plants. EEGs show brain differences between poor and rich kids University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown for the first time that the brains of low-income children function differently from the brains of high-income kids. Stress-related disorders affect brain's processing of memory Researchers using functional MRI (fMRI) have determined that the circuitry in the area of the brain responsible for suppressing memory is dysfunctional in patients suffering from stress-related psychiatric disorders. Results of the study will be presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Newborns exposed to maternal smoking more irritable, difficult to soothe Previous studies have shown that babies exposed to tobacco in utero are more likely to have a low birth weight and are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome. Self-powered devices possible, says Texas A&M researcher Imagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running. It's not as far-fetched as it may seem thanks to the recent work of Tahir Cagin, a professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Selenium may slow march of AIDS Increasing the production of naturally occurring proteins that contain selenium in human blood cells slows down multiplication of the AIDS virus, according to biochemists. Lower childhood IQ associated with higher risk of adult mental disorders Researchers have hypothesized that people with lower IQs may have a higher risk of adult mental disorders, but few studies have looked at the relationship between low childhood IQ and psychiatric disorders later in life. MRI shows new types of injuries in young gymnasts Adolescent gymnasts are developing a wide variety of arm, wrist and hand injuries that are beyond the scope of previously described gymnastic-related trauma, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). More Stress Current Events and Stress News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||