Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Click here for the Department of Neurology Home Page Click here for the UC Irvine Home Page Click here for the School of Medicine Home Page
 
 
 
 
About Us | Fellowship | Faculty | Administration

Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (Urogynecology) Research

The Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (Urogynecology) is involved in research in the following areas:

Prolapse screening test

Researchers within the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine are hard at work trying to find a screening test for prolapse.

Imagine if patients could have a vaginal swab to predict if they were at risk for prolapse, just like a Pap smear predicts cervical cancer.

Patients with and without prolapse should consider enrolling in the “Determination of LOXL1 and Fibulin-5 levels in the vaginal secretions of women with and without pelvic organ prolapse" study. If you are over the age of 18 and are a current or previous tampon user, you are eligible to enroll. We are looking for patients with and without pelvic organ prolapse. The study involves wearing a tampon overnight and the one-time collection of a vaginal swab. Your participation could bring us one step closer to helping develop a screening test for prolapse.

Urinary frequency, urgency and incontinence

Alternative methods for urinary frequency, urgency and incontinence are in high need. Two exciting trials at UC Irvine include:

  • Multi-Center, Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial Study of Chronic Tibial Nerve
  • Pilot Study of Percutaneous Posterior Tibial Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome

Back pain and hip disorders

Back pain and disorders of the hip may impact bladder function. Two unique studies intend to find out why in hopes to inform optimal surgical and approaches that may minimize the burden of PFD in this population:

  • Pelvic Outcomes With Decompression Epidemiological Research Study (POWDER)
  • A prospective study of the impact of total hip arthroplasty on urinary incontinence in women

Survivorship

The care of women with gynecologic cancers does not stop after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Survivorship care is important and more information is needed to help patients improve quality of life after radiation. Please consider taking part in the exciting study titled "Bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction in irradiated female pelvic cancer patients."

Contact us

If you would like more information regarding any of our current or prospective studies, please contact:

Linh Lê Huỳnh
Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator
714-456-6155
plhuynh@uci.edu