Editor’s Letter

Dear IUGA Family,

This second volume of the IUGA Spotlight arrives at a time of mixed blessings: there is war in Ukraine that makes us really worry about the state of the world. But there is also hope of a new dawn as the pandemic seems to be at the far end of its journey. For many of us, there is hope of finally returning to life, as we knew it, and real excitement at the prospect of finally meeting each other in person at the Annual Meeting in Austin. We sincerely hope that the parts of the world, like China, where the virus is still staging what we hope is its last stand, will see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.

The new year also saw some changes in our committee, as some members reached the end of their term. I cannot thank our outgoing Chair, Dr. Manjula Annappa, enough for her wonderful work leading the committee and for bringing about several pathbreaking changes in the IUGA Spotlight. We also thank the outgoing committee members for their excellent contribution over the years - and to our new crew members, Dr. Manidip Pal and Dr. Maherah Kamarudin, welcome! We look forward to enriching the Spotlight with the wealth of your expertise.

We wanted to reach out to our readership to ask for their opinion on how we could improve the Spotlight. Accordingly, we sent out a short survey to all of you on March 25. You have spoken and we will listen. While 31% of the responders read the Spotlight to stay in touch with the latest global news in urogynecology, 29% found the articles interesting. The most common reason why respondents don’t read all issues is because they are too busy (26%). The most interesting sections are the Expert Opinion (27%) and Tips and Tricks (24%). The respondents were enthusiastic about the new sections suggested: theme-based newsletters (37%), multidisciplinary views (37%) and research round-up (32%). The suggestions to improve the IUGA Spotlight were to get more global members involved, especially Latin American experts; to include more content for trainees; and more research-oriented articles. We will ensure that we incorporate these suggestions in the upcoming editions of the Spotlight.

We have a host of interesting articles in this newsletter. We start with a difficult case put forth by Dr. Shunaha Kim-Fine on post-hysterectomy recurrent vault dehiscence. The case and the expert opinions provided by Dr. Willy Davila and Dr. Marie-Andree Harvey helped me find the answers to some of the questions I had on post-hysterectomy healing of tissues, and I am sure it will help you too!

We then move onto a new section, Research Round-Up, in which we will present snippets of the latest research in various topics for easy consumption. This issue focuses on the latest clinical research in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.

Dr. Maherah Kamarudin offers a write-up which showcases the interviews she conducted with a few international experts from different parts of the world on the trainer’s perspective on how the pandemic has impacted fellowship programs worldwide. This is a continuation of our effort over the last two years to discuss the effects of the pandemic on urogynecology care provision and training.

Dr. Rebecca Rogers, our venerable Editor-in-Chief of the International Urogynecology Journal, has written succinctly in the IUJ Corner, about how the journal enriches our journey as urogynecologists.

In our section on Tips and Tricks in Common Surgeries, Dr. Manidip Pal and Dr. Soma Bandyopadhyay, share their wonderful tips on how to perform extraperitoneal high uterosacral ligament suspension using the cervix as a traction device for prevention of vault prolapse.

We end our newsletter with a wonderful introduction to our new International Advisory Board member from South Asia, Dr. Amita Jain. She has wonderful plans on how urogynecology can be developed in one of the most populous parts of the world with a high pelvic floor disease burden.

I would like to end with requesting you all to submit your queries for our interactive sections, Ask Anything and Difficult Cases. We promise to get answers from the brightest minds in the field.

Once again, thank you for your continued support and encouragement. I look forward to seeing you all in Austin, TX at the AUGS/IUGA Scientific Meeting, June 14-18!