Editor’s Letter

Dear IUGA Family,

Welcome to this issue, which will sadly, be my last as editor, but, is filled with the most exciting and interesting articles.

As always, I must start by extending my heartfelt thanks to our amazing team, who never stop working incredibly hard to bring us the most up to date, informative topics, widening our knowledge of the female pelvic floor.

In the Difficult Case, we see just how invaluable physiotherapy is in caring for our clients, especially postpartum. Lori Farmer and Heidi Mossdorff, our physiotherapy experts, share their views on the case. Special thanks to Cristiane Carboni, who, in the Physio Corner, engaged a team to write on ‘Tenderness, Tone, Trigger points’ when assessing pelvic floor musculature in patients with pelvic pain. I was not aware of these terminologies until I read this issue. It will certainly help me perform more comprehensive exams in future!

THE COCHRANE CORNER IS BACK! Our heartfelt thanks go out to Aparna Hegde for helping us cover this section. We missed this last year, understandably due to the pandemic. Our first topic back covers intermittent catheter designs, techniques, and strategies for managing long term bladder conditions. I think we can all agree some of our chronic catheter use and recurrent UTI clients pose some unique management challenges. We could all gain some insight and tips from reading this article.

The very popular Tips & Tricks in Common Surgeries section covers Sacrocolpopexy (SCP). I am certain a lot of us will pick up many practical tips in this amazing coverage, including in depth knowledge accompanied by visual representation. I am once again very thankful to our Japanese colleagues, Auran Rossane and team.

Our Video Spotlight, provided by our very own Catherine Hudson, covers management of advanced pelvic organ prolapse, specifically colpoclesis. I am sure we can all agree that across the globe with the pandemic, we have seen a rise in cases of massive procidentia and advanced vault prolapse, and we are doing more colpoclesis now than in last 2 years. This may be due to the combined effect of reduced access to appointments and surgery, plus many elderly women either shielding or scared to attend clinics due to fears of COVID-19. This seems to have led to more complex cases of massive pelvic organ prolapse with ulcers, UTI and sepsis.

We are incredibly honoured to feature in our Member Highlight, our esteemed colleague from Australia, Professor Ajay Rane. I must say his work and tireless dedication to fighting gender-based violence and treating fistula is life changing to his patients and truly awe-inspiring.

It was great to see so many of you in the virtual rooms at the IUGA Annual Meeting last week! Although I was disappointed to miss an opportunity to meet the IUGA family in person, the virtual meeting was more accessible to people, which gave me the chance to interact with more of you. The list of speakers, topics and workshops were so exciting and informative!

Lastly, as I come to the end of my term as Publications Committee Chair, it has been an absolute honour to serve. I have been truly humbled, meeting so many incredible people and sharing unforgettable moments. I have enjoyed being part of this incredible team first as committee member for 2 years, and then as Chair. I would have not been able to come this far without the support of my wonderful team. I cannot name everyone, but I am thankful to Jorge Haddad, our IUGA President, Ranee Thakar, Dudley Robinson, Missy Render, and Alyssa Miller. Last but my no means least, thank you to all our readers for encouraging and inspiring me. I am incredibly proud to be part of the IUGA Family and I know we will continue to do great things together.

I wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!