Common women’s urologic surgical procedures performed at Texas Health Center for Diagnostics & Surgery include:
Urethral Sling for Stress Incontinence
If you leak urine when you cough, sneeze or laugh, you may be suffering from stress urinary incontinence (SUI). More than 15 million women suffer from SUI in the U.S. alone. With this condition, the pelvic floor muscles are weakened. This may be due to vaginal childbirth delivery, menopause, and obesity. There are currently no medications approved by the FDA for the treatment of SUI but pelvic muscle exercises (Kegel exercises) may help as well as well as behavior therapies (quitting smoking or losing weight). If surgery is needed, there are various procedures that may provide relief.
One, called the sling procedure, is often the first choice for treating stress incontinence in women. This procedure restores the urethra back to its normal location by placing a special “sling” or hammock under the bladder neck so that it prevents the urethra from opening when you cough or laugh. Typically, vaginal sling procedures are performed on an outpatient basis and recovery time is a few weeks.
Ureteroscopy
A ureteroscopy is a procedure using a ureteroscope, an instrument for examining the inside of the urinary tract. Through the ureteroscope, the physician can see a stone in the ureter and then remove it.