Dr. Joseph Schaffer, Urogynecology and Pelvic Floor Disorders program director

Childbirth puts women at risk for pelvic floor disorders such as urinary or fecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Many women suffer from incontinence or overactive bladder in silence and embarrassment, not knowing where to turn for help.

Although such problems affect more than 20 percent of women, the medical community has not done a good job of explaining to women that these conditions are treatable. The Urogynecology and Pelvic Floor Disorders program at UT Southwestern Medical Center wants to change that.

Our program is unique on campus in offering a full range of both surgical and non-surgical treatments for urinary and pelvic floor conditions. We treat conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence, voiding dysfunction, constipation, interstitial cystitis, urinary tract infection, pelvic pain and sexual dysfunction.

Our team is comprised of faculty physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists and nurses – all of whom are committed to treating each woman as an individual and designing a treatment plan uniquely suited to her condition and life-style.

Our program’s non-surgical services include:

• Biofeedback
• Electrical stimulation
• Physical therapy
• Medications
• Counseling
• Pessary fitting

Our program’s surgical options include:

• Vaginal, abdominal or laparoscopic repair of pelvic structures
• Collagen injections
• InterStim (a nerve-stimulating device that helps control overactive bladder).

Our patients also have access to research treatment protocols developed by the National Institutes of Health Pelvic Floor Disorders Network and Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network.

Urogynecology is a relatively new OB/GYN subspecialty specifically dedicated to treatment of women with pelvic floor disorders. UT Southwestern has one of the largest divisions of urogynecology in the country.