Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center - (Page 56)

Transforming HealtHcare Mission: Control B ladder and bowel control problems include a range of embarrassing and potentially debilitating health issues. Urinary and fecal incontinence are pervasive medical conditions with potentially disturbing social, sexual, interpersonal and professional consequences. Although people may delay seeking help for bladder and bowel control problems, the conditions are highly treatable. Gwinnett Medical Center is helping people who suffer from incontinence through the state-of-the-art, FDA-approved InterStim system, the world's first sacral neuromodulation therapy. Sacral neuromodulation is a proven treatment that helps to control the symptoms of an overactive bladder and chronic fecal incontinence (inability to control the bowels). InterStim has proved effective in people who tried more conservative treatments without success. "Bladder control problems can significantly impair a patient's quality of life, and many patients are too embarrassed or uncomfortable to talk about the problem with their physician," says Lance Wiist, MD. Adds David Armstrong, MD: "InterStim therapy can be a great option for some fecal incontinence The InterStim system regulates the nerves that cause overactive bladder and chronic fecal incontinence. 56 WINTE R 2 013 online An implanted device helps put an end to bladder and bowel incontinence There Is No Need to Suffer! For more information about InterStim, visit gwinnettmedicalcenter.org/ interstim or call 678-312-4718. patients who continue to have accidents after trying conservative therapies or who are not candidates for conservative therapies." During a minimally invasive outpatient procedure, the neurostimulator, about the size of a stopwatch, is placed under the skin in the upper buttock near the sacral nerves. The InterStim system then delivers mild electrical stimulation to the sacral nerves, which help control the bladder and bowels. Many people experience improvements in their symptoms and quality of life after receiving treatment, including: * Significant (50 percent or greater) reduction in overactive bladder symptoms. Extensive research has confirmed the long-term efficacy of InterStim therapy, and a recent clinical study demonstrated sacral neuromodulation with the InterStim system to be associated with superior efficacy and quality of life versus oral medication alone (in less severe patients than have been studied previously in a clinical trial). * Total or significantly improved bowel control. Clinical research has shown that sacral nerve stimulation reduces episodes of bowel incontinence in patients who have the condition, and that 41 percent of patients were found to achieve complete bowel continence. Unlike other surgical treatment options, physicians and patients can assess the effectiveness of the therapy and enable a patient to experience how the therapy feels prior to going forward with the procedure. Even after implantation, the treatment is reversible and can be discontinued at any time by turning off or surgically removing the device. Most private insurance companies and Medicare cover the InterStim system. http://gwinnettmedicalcenter.org/interstim http://gwinnettmedicalcenter.org/interstim

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center
Contents
Phil’s Feature
Heartfelt Purpose
Not Too Busy to Beat Cancer
Got Excuses?
Managing Your Health with a DIY Tool Kit
Is It the Stress Talking?
The Wonderful World of Greens
Knee-to-Know Basics
On the Cover
Run for Your Life
14 Good-for-You Gifts
Special Delivery
Virtual Health
PrimeTime Health
Inspired Giving
Heads Full of Hope
Out of the White
Transforming Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center