The Grisham Center for Female Pelvic Medicine and Restorative Surgery is a cutting-edge facility dedicated to improving quality of life of women who suffer from pelvic organ prolapse and bladder dysfunction, including incontinence.
The phrase “pelvic organ prolapse” refers to a group of disorders resulting from the attenuation or destruction of structures which support the pelvic organs. These support structures form a complex system made up of muscles, fascia and ligaments which support the uterus, cervix, bladder, rectum and bowel. When this support system begins to break down, women begin to form a prolapsed or “fallen” bladder (cystocele), prolapsed rectum (rectocele), prolapsed uterus, or prolapsed vagina (vaginal vault prolapse). Additionally, they may suffer from urinary or fecal incontinence and decreased satisfaction with intercourse.
If you think you might be suffering from pelvic organ prolapse, you are not alone. Studies have shown that anywhere from 20% to as high as 93% of women will have some sort of pelvic organ prolapse in their lifetime. Not all cases have to be corrected, though, as many women are asymptomatic.
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“Treatment for pelvic organ prolapse is directed at improving a patient’s quality of life. I always stress to my patients, ‘you can never do better than ‘No Symptoms’. I have many patients in my practice with some degree of pelvic organ prolapse. However, if they are asymptomatic, we leave it alone. If a patient is symptomatic AND if her symptoms are sufficiently bothersome for her to desire treatment, then we have an opportunity to improve her quality of life. If not, I will educate her about pelvic organ prolapse and its associated symptomatology and then manage her symptoms expectantly. In doing so, the patient is better prepared should she experience symptoms, and she will know that treatment is available and that she does not simply have to live with the symptoms.” |
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Dr. Grisham has always had a special interest in pelvic organ prolapse, and he is one of the most highly trained and skilled physicians in the nation for treatment of such disorders. He has undergone extensive training over the past thirteen years, learning both classic and cutting edge techniques to treat patients suffering from prolapse disorders. He continues to research and study the current treatment methods in order to find new ways to improve upon them. His expertise is sought for teaching other physicians these procedures and also as a consultant to companies trying to develop improved technologies for the treatment of these disorders.
When a symptomatic patient seeks correction for pelvic organ prolapse or bladder dysfunction, it’s critically important that she choose the right physician. It is a highly specialized area within the field of gynecology, and very few physicians have had adequate training in the treatment of these disorders.
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“One of the greatest challenges for OB/GYN residency programs today is in providing adequate gynecologic surgical volume and training for their residents. Many programs need greater numbers of resident physicians to handle the obstetric volume in delivering babies but they are unable to provide equal and sufficient gynecologic volume to properly train gynecologic surgeons. This has become such a significant issue that there has been discussion about separating the two specialties into different residency programs. It is frightening to see the lack of gynecologic surgical training in some graduates of residency programs. Even more frightening is that many of these surgeons never have the opportunity to learn and improve their techniques. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to train at the University of Texas Medical Branch and to have had gifted mentors and the surgical volume and variety of cases I did. In addition to the training at our university hospitals, I was given the opportunity to do an intensive pelvic surgery fellowship in South Texas where severe pelvic organ prolapse is extremely common. One simple example of the disparity in training is that at the time I completed my residency training, the average resident completed only 5 vaginal hysterectomies. In contrast, after completing 120 vaginal hysterectomies I passed all further cases to my junior residents. The combination of my interest and ability, coupled with gifted mentors and enormous surgical volume and variety, has provided a solid foundation, upon which I have continued to build through continuing education, surgical courses, labs, lectures, seminars, meetings, medical and surgical practice, and an exchange of dialogue, ideas and critique with pelvic reconstructive surgeons from around the world, thus allowing me to provide the most advanced treatments to my patients.”
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The Grisham Center for Female Pelvic Medicine and Restorative Surgery is one of the first facilities of its kind in the nation. Dr. Grisham is highly skilled and experienced in prolapse correction and utilizes the most cutting-edge, effective techniques to restore normalcy to his patients lives. To learn more about the symptoms and treatment options for pelvic organ prolapse disorders, click here. To schedule an appointment at the Grisham Center, click here. |
