Female Bowel Problems: Finally, a One-Stop, Patient-Centered Approach

Our Women’s Bowel Clinic has developed groundbreaking new solutions for frequently ignored women’s health conditions including constipation, obstructed defecation, and accidental bowel leakage

When these bodily functions have gone wrong, the impact can be life-changing. We help our patients restore confidence, freedom and control. Over the past few years, we’ve developed brand new technologies allowing for more accurate diagnosis and less invasive and more effective treatments than ever before. 

Our use of 3-D pelvic floor ultrasound allows our team to almost fully eliminate the need for traditional bowel testing which had the well-earned reputation of being inconvenient, costly and embarrassing. When it comes to treatment, we utilize a multi-pronged approach including physical therapy and biofeedback, pelvic nerve stimulation, medication and behavioral therapy. And for those women needing surgery, we’ve maximized options — offering new minimally invasive procedures for improving bowel control, and curing certain types of female constipation. A pioneering approach to female bowel issues that had been ignored for generations, developed right here by our team.

Symptoms of Bowel Dysfunction

• Trouble completing bowel movements
• Feeling of incomplete emptying
• More time and effort required to complete bowel movements
• Chronic constipation
• Rectal pressure, discomfort or bulging
• Accidental bowel leakage
• Loss of confidence over bowel control

The good news?  Most female bowel conditions are successfully managed without surgery.  In fact nearly all women with bowel issues benefit from pelvic muscle physiotherapy and improved management of dietary intolerances, attention to behavioral habits and triggers, and natural bowel regimens. We collaborate with our colleagues in physical therapy, gastroenterology, colorectal surgery and other subspecialties to tailor the best treatment approach. When you receive care within our bowel clinic, and within our larger integrated multi-specialty healthcare system, you’re in the hands of a collaborative team working together to solve your problem and improve your quality of life. 

Laser-Focused on New Solutions

3D Ultrasound: The Quick, Painless and Efficient Approach to Diagnosis

Developing your best treatment plan starts with an accurate diagnosis. We utilize state-of-the-art dynamic 3D pelvic floor and bowel ultrasonography to identify the underlying causes for several of the most common bowel problems impacting women. This test takes less than 10 minutes in our office, and provides a vivid and detailed picture of the key internal pelvic anatomy. With this information we can usually gain a clear understanding of the origin for bowel symptoms, and can outline best treatment options whether the symptoms involve constipation and emptying problems, or accidents involving stool. Recent research from our team led to the development of a new ultrasound measure to identify women with constipation who may benefit from quick, outpatient minimally invasive surgery. Our Advanced Pelvic Floor Imaging unit and Women’s Bowel Clinic is backed by world-class expertise and a widely published track record in pelvic floor imaging.

New Minimally Invasive Surgery 

Our team developed a brand new surgical method (“transvaginal rectopexy”) designed to relieve female obstructed defecation (OD), a type of constipation in which stools feel ‘stuck’ and incompletely emptied. Transvaginal rectopexy is now regularly performed by our surgeons on an outpatient basis, taking less than an hour with no external incisions. This operation was invented and researched by our team and, at the present time, we are the only center in the world offering this minimally invasive surgical approach for OD. We recently presented a successful clinical trial demonstrating excellent results and symptom improvement for nearly all women undergoing the procedure.

Multidisciplinary Care

We work closely with colleagues in physical therapy, gastroenterology, colorectal surgery and other subspecialties whenever appropriate, in order to tailor the most comprehensive treatment approach. The good news?  Most female bowel conditions are successfully managed without surgery.  In fact nearly all women with bowel issues benefit from pelvic muscle physiotherapy and improved management of dietary intolerances, attention to behavioral habits and triggers, and natural bowel regimens.  When you receive care within our bowel clinic, and within our larger integrated multi-specialty healthcare system, you’re in the hands of a collaborative team working together to solve your problem and improve your quality of life. 

Nerve Stimulation Therapies

Sacral Nerve Stimulation (SNS) is a “pacemaker” for the pelvic floor and bowels, which involves a small (thumb drive sized) pacemaker implanted under the skin near the buttock region under local anesthesia. SNS provides long-term relief of bowel control problems in approximately 70% of women who undergo the procedure, and may be worth discussing when more conservative therapies fail to provide relief.

New Research on Women’s Bowel Problems

Our work in the women’s bowel clinic, including our new ultrasound diagnostic methods and the development of new minimally invasive surgical solutions, is the subject of several clinical research trials and has already led to several peer-review publications. Dr. Goldberg and Dr. Rostami recently accepted invitations to present these innovations and new surgical methods in Australia and Brazil, as well as at national meetings within the U.S. We are proud and excited about the potential for our work in the women’s bowel clinic, and our innovations in the operating room, to improve the management of female bowel disorders on a worldwide scale.