Safdarjung Hospital has become the first in Asia to adopt the German surgical technique — Cervico Sacropexy-Vaginal Sacropexy (CESA-VASA) — which permanently cures women suffering from urged or mixed urinary incontinence. Earlier, the only treatment for the disease was either through oral medication or IVs which provided only 40 per cent relief accompanied with several side effects. However, this new technique puts an end to years of suffering without any expected complications in the future.
Though introduced in India only in February this year, the technique was first invented in 2012 by German professor Dr Wolfram Jäger. However, Dr Anup Kumar, Head of the Department of Urology and Renal Transplant at Safdarjung Hospital, brought the technique to India after being trained under Jäger. As of now 13 cases of CESA have taken place in Asia, all under Kumar, with a 100 per cent success rate.
The victims of this disease frequently experience accidental leakage of urine. According to Kumar, every one in three middle-aged women suffers from this problem. “The common causes are multiple pregnancies, menopause or obesity. The uterus becomes weak and rests on the bladder. This causes irritation and pressure resulting in involuntary urination. Earlier, medication was the only cure but it was short-lived and had several side-effects. This technique, however, provides the patient comfort for a lifetime putting the uterus back to its original anatomic position,” explained Kumar.
The procedure takes one-and-a-half to two hours to complete as a mesh is put around the uterus to support it. The mesh doesn’t lead to any post-surgical complications. “There are four parts to the mesh which fits perfectly around the uterus and supports it from leaning on the bladder. The usual apprehension people have about using mesh is that it may cause internal damage, but it doesn’t. In fact the recurrence rate of the problem also reduces,” said Kumar.
While the procedure is done free of cost for patients in Safdarjung Hospital, the price of the mesh needs to be paid by the patient at the moment which is Rs85,000. Private hospitals, however, have not yet taken up the procedure.