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Objective: A study analyzing perioperative outcomes related to a sudden switch from 3D to 2D-4K technology for laparoscopic sacral colpopexy by expert pelvic surgeons: are we addicted to technology? Material and methods: After a sudden transition from 3D to 2D-4K laparoscopic technology, a total of 115 consecutive pelvic prolapse patients who underwent sacral colpopexy from June 2020 to September 2021 were retrospectively assessed from our database. Perioperative parameters, operative times (OT), and intraoperative difficulty scales were assessed. One-year follow-ups were analyzed for the study. Primary endpoints were OT; secondary endpoint was the evaluation of complications linked to this procedure. Results: We found statistical differences in OT and intraoperative difficulty scales between medians of the last 3D procedures and the first ten 2D-4K surgeries, without differences between operators. Only after more than 20 surgeries, we observed no significant differences between 3D and 2D-4K sacral colpopexy. We observed no statistical differences in terms of anatomic failure, PGI-I, and intra-postoperative complications. Conclusion: The transition of urogynecology from an exclusive vaginal approach to 2D-3D-4K laparoscopy significantly increased the level of technology necessary for surgical treatment of prolapse. This could, as a result, lead to pelvic surgeons becoming increasingly dependent on technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) represents a major public health problem for women with a significant impact on their quality of life. In many cases of CPP, due to gynecological causes—such as endometriosis and vulvodynia—improper pelvic floor muscle relaxation can be identified. Treatment of CPP with pelvic floor hypertonicity (PFH) usually involves a multimodal approach. Traditional magnetic stimulation has been proposed as medical technology to manage muscle hypertonicity and pelvic pain conditions through nerve stimulation, neuromodulation, and muscle relaxation. New Flat Magnetic Stimulation (FMS)—which involves homogeneous rather than curved electromagnetic fields—has the potential to induce sacral S2–S4 roots neuromodulation, muscle decontraction, and blood circulation improvement. However, the benefits of this new technology on chronic pelvic pain symptoms and biometrical muscular parameters are poorly known. In this study, we want to evaluate the modification of the sonographic aspect of the levator ani muscle before and after treatment with Flat Magnetic Stimulation in women with chronic pelvic pain and levator ani hypertonicity, along with symptoms evolution. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out in a tertiary-level Urogynaecology department and included women with CPP and PFH. Approval from the local Ethics Committee was obtained before the start of the study (protocol code: MAGCHAIR). At the baseline, the intensity of pelvic pain was measured using a 10 cm visual analog scale (VAS), and patients were asked to evaluate their pelvic floor symptoms severity by answering the question, "How much do your pelvic floor symptoms bother you?" on a 5-answer Likert scale. Transperineal ultrasound (TPU) was performed to assess anorectal angle (ARA) and levator ani muscle minimal plane distance (LAMD). Treatment involved Flat Magnetic Stimulation alone or with concomitant local or systemic pharmacological therapy, depending on the patient's preferences. FMS was delivered with the DR ARNOLD system (DEKA M.E.L.A. Calenzano, Italy). After the treatment, patients were asked again to score the intensity of pelvic pain using the 10 cm visual analog scale (VAS) and to evaluate the severity of their pelvic floor symptoms on the 5-answer Likert scale. Patients underwent TPU to assess anorectal angle (ARA) and levator ani muscle minimal plane distance (LAMD). Results: In total, 11 patients completed baseline evaluation, treatment, and postoperative evaluation in the period of interest. All patients underwent eight sessions of Flat Magnetic Stimulation according to the protocol. Adjuvant pharmacological treatment was used in five (45.5%) patients. Specifically, we observed a significant increase in both ARA and LAMD comparing baseline and post-treatment measurements (p < 0.001). Quality of life scale scores at baseline and after treatment demonstrated a significant improvement in both tools (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Flat Magnetic Stimulation, with or without adjuvant pharmacological treatment, demonstrated safety and efficacy in reducing pelvic floor hypertonicity, resulting in improvement in symptoms' severity and sonographic parameters of muscular spasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate III and IV degree tears rates and related risk factors in a single Italian centre. The secondary goal was to build a predictive model based on identified risk factors.Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study. All vaginal deliveries from 2011 to 2015 in a single Italian University Hospital were analysed. Univariate analysis was applied to evaluate the overall association between each factor and severe tear. Multivariate logistic regression was used to build a predictive model for the absolute risk of severe tear. We computed a resampling validated measure (AUC) of the predictive accuracy of the model and we provided a nomogram for the risk calculation in clinical practice.Results: 62 out of 10133 patients (0.61%) had a severe perineal tear. Univariate analysis identified gestational age >40 weeks, nulliparity, moderate/severe obesity, oxytocin use in pushing stage, sinciput presentation, instrumental delivery, shoulder dystocia, pushing stage ≥90 min, lithotomy position, birth weight >4 kg, head circumference at birth >34 cm and length at birth >50 cm as risk factors. Multivariate analysis identify moderate/severe obesity (OR = 2.8), instrumental delivery (OR = 2.6) and birth weight (OR = 1.1/hg) as independent risk factors. Using the predicted risk score from the final model (bootstrap-validated AUC 70%), we designed a nomogram for severe perineal tears absolute risk calculation.Conclusion: Moderate/severe obesity, instrumental delivery and foetal weight resulted as independent risk factors for severe obstetrical tears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The only available validated questionnaire for pelvic floor disorders in pregnant and postpartum women is in German. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for pregnant and postpartum women into Italian.Study Design: The questionnaire was translated into Italian by standardized procedural steps. The final version of the questionnaire was submitted to women in the third trimester of pregnancy or within 6 weeks post partum. Construct validity was tested using the Wilcoxon test, and internal consistency was tested using Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was measured with Cohen's kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient.Results: Fifty women answered the questionnaire. Construct validity was demonstrated, as the questionnaire discriminated significantly between patients with and without symptoms for four domains of pelvic floor disorders. Internal consistency was satisfactory (0.62-0.93). Cohen's kappa values for test-retest reliability were between 0.46 (moderate agreement) and 1.00 (complete agreement). Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.93 and 0.96, indicating very satisfactory overall agreement for each functional domain.Conclusions: The Italian version of the German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for pregnant and postpartum women is reliable, valid and consistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs), which include urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, sexual dysfunction and gastrointestinal disorders, affect over 20% of the adult population. Prevalence may also be underestimated, since a certain portion of patients may be reluctant to talk to physicians about PFDs due to embarrassment. Consequently, there is a need for self-assessed diagnostic tools with the capability to screen population and collect clinical information. Symptom and quality of life (QoL) questionnaires - also identified as patient-reported outcomes (PROs) - have been developed with this purpose. Despite the large number of questionnaires available for the assessment of PFDs and QoL-related issues in the English language, few of them have been validated for the Italian language. The objective of this article is to update the list of Italian-validated PROs for PFDs along with practical information concerning literature references and suggestions on how to obtain every single questionnaire., Evidence Acquisition: PubMed/MEDLINE databases and websites were used to update the list of available Italian-validated questionnaires about PFDs. Once identified, the possibility to get a copy of the questionnaire was verified and steps to obtain it are reported in the tables., Evidence Synthesis: Eight additional questionnaires validated into the Italian language, for diagnosis and overall management of common urinary, vaginal, sexual and bowel conditions, were retrieved. The complete list of PFDs PROS is reported in a modular format for consultation., Conclusions: This format is intended to serve as a tool to promote appropriateness in PROs adoption while investigating PFDs in Italian patients.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess, in a population of dichorionic twin pregnancies with selective growth restriction, the effect of inter-twin differences by use of Doppler velocimetry and fetal growth discordancy on perinatal outcomes., Methods: This was a retrospective study including dichorionic twin pregnancies from January 2008 to December 2015 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Fondazione MBBM. Only dichorionic twin pregnancies affected by selective intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) delivering at ≥24 weeks were included in the study., Results: We found that twin pregnancies with inter-twin estimated fetal weight (EFW) discordance ≥15% were significantly associated with a higher risk of preterm delivery before 32 (P=0.004) and 34 weeks (P=0.04). Similarly, twin pregnancies with inter-twin abdominal circumference (AC) discordance ≥30° centiles were associated with a higher rate of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (P=0.02), neonatal resuscitation (P=0.02) and adverse neonatal composite outcome (P=0.04). Of interest, when comparing twin pregnancies according to Doppler study, growth restricted twins had a higher rate of composite neonatal outcome and in multivariate analysis, an abnormal Doppler was an independent risk factor for this outcome., Conclusions: Our study associated growth discrepancy with specific pregnancy outcomes, according to defined cut-offs. In addition, we demonstrated that an abnormal umbilical artery Doppler is independently associated with a composite neonatal adverse outcome in growth restricted fetuses.

Introduction and Hypothesis: The association between pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and detrusor underactivity (DU) is not well defined. The primary outcome of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of DU in a cohort of patients with POP and its association with symptoms, anatomy. and urodynamic findings. The secondary outcome was to evaluate the evolution of lower urinary tract symptoms after POP repair between DU and non-DU patients., Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent preoperative urodynamic tests were retrospectively analyzed. Detrusor underactivity was evaluated by the Bladder Contractility Index (BCI = pDetQmax + Qmax × 5) proposed by Abrams. A BCI < 100 was considered indicative of an underactive bladder. Patients with underactive bladder were considered group A, whereas the remaining patients were classified as group B., Results: A total of 518 patients were studied. According to BCI, detrusor underactivity was identified in 212 (40.9%) patients (group A). Group A showed higher rates of voiding symptoms (59.4% vs 36.3%, p < 0.0001) and positive (>100 ml) postvoid residual (29.7% vs 9.8%, p < 0.0001). Conversely, they displayed lower rates of urge incontinence (15.1% vs 23.2%, p = 0.02) and detrusor overactivity (15.6% vs 23.9%, p = 0.02). Preoperative Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) demonstrated greater Aa (+1.1 ± 1.5 vs +0.9 ± 1.5, p = 0.03) and Ba (+1.4 ± 1.7 vs +1.2 ± 1.7, p = 0.04) points values in patients in group A. After POP surgery, postoperative voiding symptoms were similar in the two groups (16% vs 15.7%, p = 0.91)., Conclusions: Our study showed a 40.9% prevalence of DU in POP patients. DU was associated with the presence of voiding symptoms and positive PVR. Moreover, cystocele showed to be more severe in DU group. After surgical repair of POP, voiding symptoms of DU patients became equal to non-DU ones, suggesting that obstruction removal might recover DU in these patients.

Objective: To evaluate the learning curve for the single-incision sling (SIS) procedure in a single-surgeon case series., Methods: Data were retrospectively analyzed from women with non-recurrent symptomatic stress urinary incontinence confirmed by urodynamics and treated at San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy, between October 2008 and November 2015. All women underwent the SIS procedure using a MiniArc sling fitted by the same urogynecologic surgeon. Blood loss, operative time, and complications were recorded. At follow-up visits, objective cure was assessed with a stress test and subjective outcome was determined by International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form and Patient Global Impression of Improvement scores. Postoperative overactive bladder syndrome and voiding symptoms were recorded., Results: In total, 192 patients underwent the SIS procedure. Estimated blood loss, operative time, and complication rate were not influenced by the number of procedures performed. Among 191 patients who completed 12 months of follow-up, neither objective nor subjective outcomes at longest follow-up available were influenced by surgeon's experience. Conversely, de novo overactive bladder syndrome (P<0.001) and voiding symptoms (P=0.029) decreased with increasing experience., Conclusion: SIS showed encouraging objective and subjective outcomes with a minimal complication rate even at the beginning of the learning curve. However, increasing experience reduced postoperative voiding symptoms and overactive bladder syndrome., (© 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)