Green Cystoscopy: Does Minimizing the Use of Drapes Increase Infection Rates?

Importance: The U.S. health care system has an enormous carbon footprint made worse by the escalating use of single-use supplies.

Does reusable mean green? Comparison of the environmental impact of reusable operating room bed covers and lift sheets versus single-use.

Introduction: As hospitals strive to reduce their environmental footprint, there is an ongoing debate over the environmental implications of reusable versus disposable linens in operating rooms (ORs). This research aimed to compare the environmental impact of reusable versus single-use OR bed covers and lift sheets using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.

Methods: LCA is an established tool with rigorous methodology that uses science-based processes to measure environmental impact.

No-Show Rates in a Urogynecology Clinic.

Importance: No-show appointments, or scheduled appointments that patients do not attend without giving notice of cancellation, are a prevalent problem in the outpatient setting.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the proportion of patients by decades of life who "no-show" to their urogynecology appointments.

Study Design: This retrospective cohort included women 20 years and older who did not show to their urogynecologic clinical encounters at an academic practice between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

Antibiotic utilization and symptom improvement in a retrospective cohort of women with urinary tract infection symptoms.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections in women. We hypothesized that over half of those treated empirically would receive inappropriate antibiotics, those treated expectantly would have lower symptom improvement without antibiotics, and that overall progression to sequelae would be uncommon.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study of women with UTI symptoms, we quantified the proportion who received inappropriate antibiotics in those treated empirically, defined as those with a negative urine culture or antibiotics that were changed according to culture sensitivities, and identified factors associated with symptom improvement during expectant management.

Sustainability in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Current practices in the U.S. health care industry drive climate change.

The Use of Disposable Supplies: Measuring Suburethral Sling Surgical Waste by Cost and Weight.

Importance: The health care industry is a leading contributor to solid waste in the United States, and two thirds of a hospital's regulated medical waste is produced from surgery.

Objective: The primary objective was to assess the utilization of single-use disposable supplies during suburethral sling cases.

Study Design: We observed suburethral sling plus cystoscopy procedures at an academic medical center.

Going green in gynecology: a call to action.

The climate change crisis poses a central threat to public health. The health outcomes of this crisis are well known, but lesser known to medical professionals is the role that healthcare delivery plays in worsening this crisis. The United States healthcare system is responsible for producing 10% of the total greenhouse gases.

Surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence: comparison of robotic-assisted Burch urethropexy with retropubic midurethral sling.

Synthetic retropubic midurethral slings (RMUS) and robotic-assisted Burch urethropexies (RA-Burch) are common surgical treatment options for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Few data exist comparing the success of these two retropubic surgeries. This retrospective cohort study of RA-Burch and RMUS procedures compared the proportion of patients with subjective cure after RA-Burch compared to RMUS at our institution between 2016 and 2020.

Home urinary tract infection testing: patient experience and satisfaction with polymerase chain reaction kit.

Introduction And Hypothesis: We sought to evaluate patient satisfaction with a novel multiplex PCR UTI home collection kit for symptomatic UTI in a urogynecologic population. We secondarily sought to characterize reported uropathogens and resistance profiles of uropathogens in this population. We hypothesized that patients would be satisfied.

Operative Time for Minimally Invasive Sacrocolpopexy: Comparison of Conventional Laparoscopy versus Robotic Platform.

Study Objective: To evaluate the operative time for minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy using conventional laparoscopy vs robotic assistance. In addition, we sought to compare intraoperative complications, mesh complications, anatomic prolapse recurrence, and retreatment.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Factors Associated With a Positive Urine Culture in Women Seeking Urogynecologic Care for Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms.

Importance: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections and more frequently affect women than men.

Objectives: Our objective was to determine clinical characteristics associated with a positive urine culture in women seeking treatment for symptoms of UTI.

Study Design: In this prospective cohort study, women seeking treatment for UTI symptoms were administered the Urinary Tract Infection Symptom Assessment questionnaire at baseline and at the time of culture results.

Total Vaginal Hysterectomy With Uterosacral Ligament Suspension Compared With Supracervical Hysterectomy With Sacrocervicopexy for Uterovaginal Prolapse.

Objective: To compare prolapse recurrence after total vaginal hysterectomy with uterosacral ligament suspension to recurrence after supracervical hysterectomy with mesh sacrocervicopexy for the primary management of uterovaginal prolapse.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women undergoing uterovaginal prolapse repair at an academic center from 2009 to 2019. Women who underwent vaginal hysterectomy with uterosacral ligament suspension or laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy with mesh sacrocervicopexy were included.

Comparison of Laparoscopic Hysterectomy in Patients with Endometriosis with and without an Obliterated Cul-de-sac.

Study Objective: To determine if intraoperative outcomes for patients undergoing laparoscopic hysterectomy with endometriosis and an obliterated cul-de-sac are different than patients with endometriosis and no obliteration of the cul-de-sac.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Setting: An academic tertiary care hospital.

A noninvasive bladder sensory test supports a role for dysmenorrhea increasing bladder noxious mechanosensitivity.

Objective: Catheterization to measure bladder sensitivity is aversive and hinders human participation in visceral sensory research. Therefore, we sought to characterize the reliability of sonographically estimated female bladder sensory thresholds. To demonstrate this technique's usefulness, we examined the effects of self-reported dysmenorrhea on bladder pain thresholds.