Friday 27 February 2015

Exciting Research Sheds Light on the High Failure Rate of Conventional Prolapse Repair Surgery

Professor Hans Peter Dietz, an Australian researcher revolutionising our understanding of pelvic floor imagery.
Professor Dietz, a researcher at The University of Sydney, has spent years trying to improve the way that imaging technology (such as ultrasounds) is used for diagnosis and treatment of pelvic floor disorders.

As part of this research, he and his team have discovered that pelvic organ prolapse (POP) generally occurs when the puborectalis (pelvic floor) muscle tears or becomes detached from the bone during childbirth. If this damage is serious, it can cause any surgical prolapse repair attempts to fail.

Though he has identified this problem, there is currently no way to prevent or repair this muscle damage. Professor Dietz currently has two studies going - one focused on a possible prevention and the other on a possible repair.

However, this improvement in our understanding of POP is already a great achievement.

Professor Dietz also shows a good understanding of the situation faced by many women with POP when he acknowledges that we often deal with medical professionals who are not aware of this new research. If you find yourself in that situation, you could direct your healthcare provider to Dr Dietz's website, or take along a printout of the section that is relevant to you.

There is so much information freely available on Professor Dietz's website that it is well worth visiting to explore in more detail. Begin with his 'General Info' page which summarises his knowledge of the field an explains some of the medical terms he uses in the rest of his website.

There is also extensive information available on this website for medical professionals, including a page of teaching resources.

Warning: This webpage includes a number of clinical images and videos of pelvic floor damage. Images from the labour room may be particularly upsetting to women suffering from birth trauma. If you would like to read the information without viewing the images, ask a friend or family member to copy the text into a document for you, without the pictures.