Practice patterns of female urologists in Australia and New Zealand.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the practice patterns of female urologists in Australia and New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to female urologists and urology trainees of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand in December 2016, with questions on demographics, practice patterns and views on mentorship. RESULTS: Of 82 recipients of the questionnaire, 60 (73.2%) responded. Of these, 61.7% were aged <40 years, 81.7% were married or in a long-term relationship and 56.7% had children. A total of 67.8% had completed urology training. Of these, most had commenced clinical practice within the preceding 12 years, most had taken no time off in training and most had taken <1 year away from clinical practice. A total of 74.4% practised in a metropolitan area and 42.5% described their practice as being general urology. High or moderate satisfaction levels were reported by 88.1% of respondents and 92.9% intended to retire before the age of 70 years. A total of 17.2% had not had a mentor and 80.7% thought a mentorship scheme would be useful. CONCLUSION: These results provide information on the practice patterns of the increasing number of women urologists in Australia and New Zealand and have the potential to shape workforce and training planning in this region and worldwide.

A surgical case involving bladder endometriosis.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The purpose is to demonstrate a surgical case of severe endometriosis involving a bladder endometriotic nodule. METHODS: This patient has a large 4-cm endometriotic nodule which obliterates the uterovesical pouch and invades the bladder. A video recording was made of the surgery involving a combined laparoscopic and transurethral approach to excise the endometriotic nodule together with partial cystectomy of the bladder. The surgery was carried out by two gynaecological laparoscopic surgeons and a urologist. RESULTS: This video is a good demonstration of the multidisciplinary approach that is required for such a complex case. The surgery itself is technically difficult as the nodule is densely adherent to both bladder and uterus. This video was presented at the 2011 International Urogynecological Association 36th Annual Meeting in Portugal. CONCLUSIONS: Endometriosis involving the urinary tract is rare and only occurs in approximately 1% of all patients with endometriosis (Schneider et al., Int J Urol 13:902-904, 2006). Surgery often involves a multidisciplinary approach and the surgery itself is technically challenging. This video is a good example of such a case.

Case Report: Reconstruction After Anterior Pubic Hemipelvectomy.

We report on a case of a large atypical cartilaginous tumor of the pelvis and its novel surgical resection with an anterior hemipelvectomy and reconstruction with an iliac crest graft. Surgical intervention is the mainstay treatment of pelvic chondrosarcomas. However, there have been reports of concern regarding preventing pelvic visceral herniation and adequately reconstructing the pelvis. This report is unique within the literature and has yielded good functional outcomes whilst achieving satisfactory surgical margins and minimizing morbidity.

An easy method of deflating a blocked Foley balloon.

Blocked Foley balloons are occasionally encountered by many urological surgeons. A number of methods of removing a blocked balloon catheter have been advocated. They are usually invasive, time and resource consuming and often ineffective. A non-invasive, reliable and safe technique of deflating a blocked catheter balloon by inserting a Glidewire through the balloon channel is reported in the present paper.

Randomized controlled trial of strength training in post-polio patients.

Many post-polio patients develop new muscle weakness decades after the initial illness. However, its mechanism and treatment are controversial. The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that: (1) after strength training, post-polio patients show strength improvement comparable to that seen in the healthy elderly; (2) such training does not have a deleterious effect on motor unit (MU) survival; and (3) part of the strength improvement is due to an increase in voluntary motor drive. After baseline measures including maximum voluntary contraction force, voluntary activation index, motor unit number estimate, and the tetanic tension of the thumb muscles had been determined, 10 post-polio patients with hand involvement were randomized to either the training or control group. The progressive resistance training program consisted of three sets of eight isometric contractions, three times weekly for 12 weeks. Seven healthy elderly were also randomized and trained in a similar manner. Changes in the baseline parameters were monitored once every 4 weeks throughout the training period. The trained post-polio patients showed a significant improvement in their strength (P < 0.05). The magnitude of gain was greater than that seen in the healthy elderly (mean +/- SE, 41 +/- 16% vs. 29 +/- 8%). The training did not adversely affect MU survival and the improvement was largely attributable to an increase in voluntary motor drive. We therefore conclude that moderate intensity strength training is safe and effective in post-polio patients.

Applicability, validity, and reliability of the Piper Fatigue Scale in postpolio patients.

OBJECTIVE: To identify a scale that is potentially applicable for measuring the fatigue in postpolio patients and to evaluate its validity and reliability in this population. DESIGN: Interview survey of 64 individuals with postpolio syndrome and 25 healthy controls of similar age range, with retest in a subset of postpolio patients. The sample was recruited from a postpolio support group, a postpolio clinic, and the general community. Subjects completed the Piper Fatigue Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire during the interview. RESULTS: Face and content validity of the Piper Fatigue Scale was established by a team of experts and by a group of postpolio patients. The postpolio subjects had significantly higher Piper Fatigue Scale scores than the healthy control subjects (P < 0.001), demonstrating extreme groups validity. Convergent validity was shown with a strong positive correlation between Piper Fatigue Scale scores and Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire scores (r = 0.80). Reliability was also demonstrated with the Piper Fatigue Scale's high internal consistency (alpha = 0.98) and strong test-retest agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: The Piper Fatigue Scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring postpolio fatigue. This scale may be useful in other studies of postpolio fatigue, including those gauging the effectiveness of various treatments for this fatigue.