EVB Sport Recommended at UGUS 2019

On Friday, April 12th, the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting for the Ulster Gynae Urology Society took place in Craigavon, and we were delighted to get a mention during one of workshops that discussed new developments. EVB Sport support garments were listed in the Device Update Workshop for practitioners dealing with patients suffering from stress incontinence. 

The meeting included workshops and presentations and was well attended by specialist physiotherapists, continence nurses, gynaecologists, urologists and was open to anyone involved in the treatment of patients in the urogynaecology field. Several of the presentations were of particular interest to us at EVB Sport. Here’s a summary of all the latest up-to-date info.

‘Returning to running postnatal-
guidelines for medical, health and fitness professionals managing this population’.

Grainne Donnelly, Absolute Physio, presented these new guidelines on safe return to higher intensity exercise for postnatal patients which she co-authored with Tom Goom (Running physio) and Emma Brockwell (Physio Mum). These guidelines have already been downloaded 4000 times in less than a month. Essential reading for mums getting back into exercise and their care providers. Download the guidelines here -> guide

What’s Happening in Physiotherapy 2019

This part of the meeting was like a rapid-fire roundup with excellent information on a variety of recent studies presented including:

• Grainne Donnelly, representing Western Health Trust in this talk, spoke about a study undertaken to assess the perceptions that GP’s and general practice physiotherapists have of specialist pelvic health physiotherapists. Let’s just say that there is a real need to increase awareness amongst practitioners on the role of this specialist area and what therapy they can offer to women suffering prolapse and incontinence.
• Michelle Farrell presented her Antenatal Education Review. 80% of new mums surveyed said they had pelvic floor issues post-delivery, and all of them were happy to self-manage the problem. I wonder how many actually know if they are doing their exercises correctly? Again, the need for education is clear.
• Louise Kerr gave a presentation focused on the results of a survey carried out amongst a group of women who had suffered injury during childbirth.  Since delivery, respondents symptoms included urinary incontinence, faecal symptoms and prolapse. 2 weeks after delivery the new mums were telephoned by the physiotherapy department and given reassurance and an appointment for a 6 week check in the clinic. Of those that attended and completed between 1-3 sessions, all had reported an improvement in their symptoms or totally resolved. They all reported increased confidence in undertaking their pelvic floor exercises also. Of those women who did not avail of the physiotherapy appointment, 22% had a fear of internal examination, and a similar number had child minding issues and couldn’t get attend their appointment. It is alarming to think of the number of women who are afraid to be examined, and those who haven’t sufficient support to be able to get the help they need. Again, need for information and education is clear.

Stress Urinary Incontinence – What’s New ?

Pelvic health Physiotherapists Wendy Brown and Alison Robinson ran a workshop to inform the health care professionals present about devices that might help their patients with SUI. A list of 14 products were discussed from medical inserts, pelvic floor trainers and electrical stimulation. We were delighted to see our garments mentioned as a tool to help women with stress incontinence. Many of the physios present remarked how their patients with prolapse are also benefiting from the perineum support provided by our garments. (Click the link here for more info on our Engineered Support Wear)

NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) Guidelines 2019 – U.I. and Prolapse.

Dr Maire Mageean made a presentation about the NICE Guidelines and the recent recommendations in relation to women with Urinary Incontinence and Prolapse. It was recommended that 16 weeks of specialist physiotherapy is first line of treatment.

Dr Mageean spoke about surgery and gave us stats showing the amount of surgeries being performed had decreased steadily since they first began in the mid-noughties. Education and understanding of the problems continues to increase, and the impact of specialist physiotherapist is felt. There was a decrease of 48% in the number of surgeries for stress incontinence when comparing 2008/2009 numbers with 2016/2017 before the pause on the surgery was announced by NICE guidelines.

Going forward, it is envisaged that a patient presenting with urinary incontinence and prolapse, will be dealt with by a team including consultants, specialist nurse and pelvic health physiotherapist. Surgery will only be considered if non-surgical management has failed. Please take a look at the NICE Guidelines if you are considering surgery to treat incontinence and or prolapse.

Finally …..

We’ve been attending the conference for the last 4 years, and we always learn so much! The presentations are always engaging, and the sharing of knowledge and experience gives us great hope. I believe that all of the attendees and speakers are there because they have a common goal that seeks to make an impact in the lives of patients suffering gynaecological, urological and pelvic issues.

If you think you would benefit from seeing a specialist women’s health physiotherapist, please contact us at info@evbsport.com and we can connect you with someone in your locality. There has never been a more important time to listen to your body and seek out the answers in relation to pelvic health. Don’t wait for it to become a big problem.

Postscript: 16th April FDA order

Since the conference the FDA (The Food and Drug Administration) have ordered medical device companies selling surgical mesh for the repair of pelvic organ prolapse to stop all sales in the US. This decision does not include mesh devices used for treatment of some urinary conditions. The FDA have said that women who have already had the devices implanted and are not having any issues should not take any action, other than to continue regular check ups with their doctor. Estimates show that nearly 10 million women worldwide have received mesh implants to treat weakening pelvic muscles and alleviate urinary incontinence.