Martius' labial fat pad interposition and its modification in complex lower urinary fistulae.
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OBJECTIVE: To assess the results of Martius' labial fat pad interposition and its modification using skin island in the repair of giant and recurrent vesicovaginal and urethrovaginal fistulae. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients of urethrovaginal and vesicovaginal fistulae underwent Martius' labial fat pad interposition and its skin island modification during 1996 to 1999. Ten of these were recurrent (66%) and five were giant fistulae (34%) i.e. more than five cms. RESULTS: Results were very gratifying with a successful repair in 14 patients (93%). Two patients had transient, low-grade stress incontinence, which did not need any additional procedure. In one patient, there was failure of repair, which was later successfully repaired using fat pad from opposite labia. CONCLUSION: Martius' fat pad interposition provides vascularity and surface for epithelialisation and also prevents overlapping of vesical/urethral and vaginal suture lines. Martius' repair has good results with low morbidity in the treatment of giant and recurrent urethrovaginal and vesicovaginal fistulae. (+info)
Obstetric fistula: evaluation with ultrasonography.
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Twenty-two patients with 24 fistulae were examined prospectively with real-time sonography. Sonographic findings were compared with those of intravenous urograms and correlated with the findings at examination under anesthesia and at surgery. Various genital abnormalities not revealed by intravenous urography were demonstrated by sonography preoperatively. These included cervical injuries, vesicovaginal fistula showing "flat tire" sign and hourglass deformities, and identification of the site, size, and course of fistulae in seven (29%) of the cases. However, the demonstration of the fistulae by sonography is poor relative to that of examination under anesthesia, in which 21 (87%) of the fistulae were identified. The factors responsible for the difficulty in demonstrating the fistulae on sonography, which included size and multiplicity, are discussed. Sonography is complementary to examination under anesthesia in preoperative evaluation of the patients with obstetric fistulae in general and in those with previous unsuccessful repairs in particular. (+info)
Surgical outcome of female genital fistula in Korea.
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This purpose of this study was to establish a new standard for the surgical management of female genital fistula in Korea. From January 1992 to October 2001, 117 patients with female genital fistula who were admitted to the departments of obstetrics and gynecology, urology and general surgery were analyzed. Nine patients with congenital etiologies and 48 patients who were treated conservatively were excluded. The relationships between surgical outcome and the cause of fistula, the location of fistula, and the various surgical methods were analyzed. In spite of appropriate surgical treatment, fistulas due to cervix cancer management had the worst prognosis. In terms of location, fistula recurrence after surgical repair was most common in the bladder fundus and base. The transvaginal and transrectal approaches are suitable for fistulas located in the lower vagina. The transabdominal approach is appropriate for fistulas located in the functional portions such as the bladder and ureter, for fistulas which are difficult to expose surgically by either the vaginal or rectal approach, or in cases with severe adhesions. In cases of cervix cancer, extra care should be taken during surgical expiration or definitive radiotherapy, especially when the areas involved are the bladder fundus and base. The nature of the surgical approach should be decided by the location of the fistula, the functional importance of the area, and the degree of surgical exposure during the corrective procedures. (+info)
Repair of vesico-vaginal fistula.
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One hundred and thirteen patients with vesico-vaginal fistula were seen at the University of California Hospital from 1932 through 1959. The most common cause of fistula was trauma associated with pelvic operation, and the operation most often involved was total abdominal hysterectomy. Malignant disease of the pelvic organs was the second most common cause, while radiation therapy and obstetrical causes were next in the order of frequency. Three fistulas healed spontaneously. Twelve bladder by-pass operations were done and 54 repairs were carried out in 46 patients. Thirty-eight patients (82.6 per cent) were cured after one or more repair operations. A variety of operative approaches were used, selected in accordance with the needs of the individual case. Bladder distention postoperatively, due to a plugged catheter, was held responsible for failure of the repair in three cases, and this complication was considered preventable. Close attention to surgical technique, the recognition of bladder injury, and proper repair at the time of operation are prime factors in the prevention of vesico-vaginal fistula. (+info)
Vesico-vaginal and recto-vaginal fistulae.
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A personal series of 716 patients with vesico-vaginal and/or recto-vaginal fistulae is presented. Five hundred and seventy-eight patients were managed in Africa, mainly at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, while 138 were kindly referred to me from various parts of Britain. The main cause of such fistulae in the developing world is pressure necrosis from obstructed labour. In the developed world the aetiology is surgery, malignancy, radiotherapy or a combination of these. Other causes include neglected foreign bodies, coital injury and local treatment by an unqualified practitioner. A vesico-vaginal fistula alone was present in 78.8%, a recto-vaginal fistula alone in 4.3%, while 16.9% of patients had both a vesico-vaginal and a recto-vaginal fistula. Six hundred and six (84.6%) patients were cured at the first attempt at repair, 45 (6.3%) failed and 65 (9.1%) had stress incontinence. (+info)
Unexpected causes of gynecological pelvic pain.
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During our day-to-day practice, we, as clinicians, occasionally come across patients whose symptomatology is atypical. In major teaching hospitals, it is usually easy to consult with other specialists to optimize patient management and standard of care. Our study patients were treated by the authors between January 1998 and January 2003. In this article, the authors report on 6 different cases of unexpected causes of pelvic pain, all of which were managed in a general gynecological unit at a major tertiary referral institution. (+info)
Giant supratrigonal vesicocervicovaginal fistula--a case report.
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Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) is prevalent in the developing world, with recent estimates suggesting that 2 million women live with fistula, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. VVF is associated with urogenital infections and ammonia dermatitis, and the psychosocial ramifications may be devastating, as women may be socially isolated from their families and community. VVF also remains a challenging condition for the gynecologic surgeon. We present a case of a giant supratrigonal VVF repaired using an abdominal (suprapubic) transperitoneal transvesical approach. (+info)
The medical ethics of Dr J Marion Sims: a fresh look at the historical record.
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Vesicovaginal fistula was a catastrophic complication of childbirth among 19th century American women. The first consistently successful operation for this condition was developed by Dr J Marion Sims, an Alabama surgeon who carried out a series of experimental operations on black slave women between 1845 and 1849. Numerous modern authors have attacked Sims's medical ethics, arguing that he manipulated the institution of slavery to perform ethically unacceptable human experiments on powerless, unconsenting women. This article reviews these allegations using primary historical source material and concludes that the charges that have been made against Sims are largely without merit. Sims's modern critics have discounted the enormous suffering experienced by fistula victims, have ignored the controversies that surrounded the introduction of anaesthesia into surgical practice in the middle of the 19th century, and have consistently misrepresented the historical record in their attacks on Sims. Although enslaved African American women certainly represented a "vulnerable population" in the 19th century American South, the evidence suggests that Sims's original patients were willing participants in his surgical attempts to cure their affliction-a condition for which no other viable therapy existed at that time. (+info)