Quebec Universities

Research Spotlight

Research Highlights

• Dr. Maryse Larouche (Urogynecologist, McGill University), and Dr. Roxana Geoffrion (Urogynecologist, University of British Columbia) undertook a systematic review of apical prolapse surgical procedures. They published their systematic review and meta-analysis in Obstetrics &Gynecology (journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists/ACOG).

  Sixty-two articles were included in the review. At 1 to 5 years after surgery, the authors reported that (1) There was more anatomic recurrence after sacrocolpopexy than vaginal suspensions; (2)  Minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy showed less overall anatomic recurrence than open sacrocolpopexy, but subjective outcomes were similar; (3) Hysterectomy and suspension vs. hysteropexy seemed to have similar outcomes in the short to medium term. Overall, outcome reporting of studies needs to be improved to allow meaningful comparisons of procedures. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) guideline No. 413 was developed based on this review and published in the JOGC.

  View publications:

  Systematic review: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33957652/ 

  SOGC guideline: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33548503/

• Melanie Morin (Physiotherapist, PhD, University of Sherbrooke), Chantal Dumoulin (Physiotherapist, PhD, University of Montreal) and their colleagues published the results of a multicenter randomized controlled trial on treatment options for provoked vestibulodynia in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This research was funded by CIHR and FRQS . The authors recruited and randomized 212 women with provoked vestibulodynia and compared weekly multimodal physical therapy vs. overnight topical lidocaine (5% ointment) treatment (duration – 10 weeks). They found that physical therapy was more effective than lidocaine at reducing intensity of dyspareunia, and at improving sexual function. 195 (92%) patients completed 6-month follow-up. Overall, most women (79%) reported being very much or much improved after physical therapy vs. a minority (39%) of the lidocaine group (p<0.001).

  View publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32818475/

2020-2021 Publication List

Larouche M, Belzile E, Geoffrion G. Surgical Management of Symptomatic Apical Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Obstet Gynecol 2021;137(6). doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004393. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:

Geoffrion R, Larouche M. Guideline No. 413: Surgical Management of Apical Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Women. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2021 Apr;43(4):511-523.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2021.02.001. Epub 2021 Feb 3. PMID: 33548503.

Roch M, Gaudreault N, Cyr MP, Venne G, Bureau NJ,Morin M. The Female Pelvic Floor Fascia Anatomy: A Systematic Search and Review. Life (Basel). 2021 Aug 30;11(9):900. doi: 10.3390/life11090900. PMID:34575049.

Thalmann M, Ringli L, Adcock M, Swinnen N, de Jong J, Dumoulin C, Guimarães V, de Bruin ED. Usability Study of a Multicomponent Exergame Training for Older Adults with Mobility Limitations. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 20;18(24):13422. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413422. PMID:34949028

Geoffrion R, Koenig NA, Zheng M, Sinclair N, Brotto L, Lee T, Larouche M. Preoperative depression and anxiety impact on inpatient surgery outcomes: A prospective cohort study. Ann Surg Open. 2021 Mar;2(1):e049. doi: 10.1097/AS9.0000000000000049.

Frawley H, Shelly B,Morin M, Bernard S, Bø K, Digesu GA, Dickinson T, Goonewardene S, McClurg D, Rahnama'i MS, Schizas A, Slieker-Ten Hove M, Takahashi S, Voelkl Guevara J. An International Continence Society (ICS) report on the terminology for pelvic floor muscle assessment. Neurourol Urodyn. 2021 Jun;40(5):1217-1260. doi: 10.1002/nau.24658. PMID:

Morin M,Dumoulin C, Bergeron S, Mayrand MH, Khalifé S, Waddell G, Dubois MF; PVD Study Group. Multimodal physical therapy versus topical lidocaine for provoked vestibulodynia: a multicenter, randomized trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Feb;224(2):189.e1-189.e12. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2020.08.038. PMID:32818475.

Capmas P, Larouche M, Suhartana E. Conversion rate of laparoscopic or robotic to open sacrocolpopexy: are there associated factors and complications? Int Urogynecol J. 2020 Oct 26. doi: 10.1007/s00192-020-04570-4.[Epub ahead of print] PMID: 33104825. 

Larouche M, Albert AYK, Lipsky N, Walmsley S, Loutfy M, Smaill F, Trottier S, Bitnun A, Yudin MH, Cundiff GW, Money DM. Urinary Symptoms and Quality of Life in Women Living With HIV: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int Urogynecol J.2021 Feb;32(2):353-358. doi: 10.1007/s00192-020-04343-z.Epub 2020 May 22. PMID: 32440885.

Le Berre M,Presse N,Morin M, Larouche M, Campeau L, Hu YX, Reid I, Dumoulin C. What do we really know about the role of caffeine on urinary tract symptoms? A scoping review on caffeine consumption and lower urinary tract symptoms in adults. Neurourol Urodyn. 2020 Jun;39(5):1217-1233. doi: 10.1002/nau.24344. Epub 2020 Apr 9. PMID: 32270903.

Bentaleb J, Larouche M. Innovative use of artificial intelligence in urogynecology. Int Urogynecol J. 2020 Jul;31(7):1287-1288.doi: 10.1007/s00192-020-04243-2. Epub 2020 Feb 13. PMID: 32055869.

Cacciari LP, Kruger J, Goodman J, Budgett D, Dumoulin C. Reliability and validity of intravaginal pressure measurements with a new intravaginal pressure device: The FemFit®. Neurourol Urodyn. 2020 Jan;39(1):253-260. doi: 10.1002/nau.24179. Epub 2019 Oct 6. PMID:31588623

Lisonkova S, Geoffrion R, Sanaee M, Muraca GM, Wen Q, Yong PJ, Larouche M, Cundiff GW. Regional variation and temporal trends in surgery for pelvic organ prolapse in Canada, 2004-2014. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2020 Jul;42(7):846-852.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2019.12.016. Epub 2020 Mar 12. PMID: 32173237.

El-Sayegh B, Dumoulin C, Ali M, Assaf H, Sawan M. A Dynamometer-based Wireless Pelvic Floor Muscle Force Monitoring. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2020 Jul;2020:6127-6130. doi: 10.1109/EMBC44109.2020.9176660. PMID:33019369

Cacciari LP, Amorim AC, Pássaro AC, Dumoulin C, Sacco ICN. Intravaginal pressure profile of continent and incontinent women. J Biomech. 2020 Jan 23;99:109572. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.109572. PMID:31931973

Swinnen N, de Bruin ED, Dumoulin C, Thalmann M, Guimarães V, De Jong J, Vandenbulcke M, Vancampfort D. The VITAAL Stepping Exergame Prototype for Older Adults With Major Neurocognitive Disorder: A Usability Study. Front Aging Neurosci. 2021 Nov 4;13:701319. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.701319. eCollection 2021. PMID:

Pedofsky L, Nielsen PMF, Budgett D, Nemec K, Dumoulin C, Kruger J. Using codesign to develop a mobile application for pelvic floor muscle training with an intravaginal device (femfit®). Neurourol Urodyn. 2021 Nov;40(8):1900-1907. doi: 10.1002/nau.24775. Epub 2021 Aug 31. PMID:

Padoa A, McLean L,Morin M, Vandyken C. The Overactive Pelvic Floor (OPF) and Sexual Dysfunction. Part 2: Evaluation and Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction in OPF Patients. Sex Med Rev. 2021 Jan;9(1):76-92. doi: 10.1016/j.sxmr.2020.04.002. PMID:32631813.

Padoa A, McLean L,Morin M, Vandyken C. "The Overactive Pelvic Floor (OPF) and Sexual Dysfunction" Part 1: Pathophysiology of OPF and Its Impact on the Sexual Response. Sex Med Rev. 2021 Jan;9(1):64-75. doi: 10.1016/j.sxmr.2020.02.002.PMID:32238325.

Paquin MH, Duclos C, Lapierre N, Dubreucq L, Morin M, Meunier J, Rousseau J, Dumoulin C. The effects of a strong desire to void on gait for incontinent and continent older community-dwelling women at risk of falls. Neurourol Urodyn. 2020 Feb;39(2):642-649. doi: 10.1002/nau.24234. Epub 2019 Nov 25. PMID:31765490

Dumoulin C, Morin M, Danieli C, Cacciari L, Mayrand MH, Tousignant M, Abrahamowicz M; Urinary Incontinence and Aging Study Group. Group-Based vs Individual Pelvic Floor Muscle Training to Treat Urinary Incontinence in Older Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Oct 1;180(10):1284-1293. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2993.PMID:32744599

Cyr MP,Dumoulin C, Bessette P, Pina A, Gotlieb WH, Lapointe-Milot K, Mayrand MH, Morin M. Feasibility, acceptability and effects of multimodal pelvic floor physical therapy for gynecological cancer survivors suffering from painful sexual intercourse: A multicenter prospective interventional study. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Dec;159(3):778-784. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.09.001. PMID:33010968 

Benoit-Piau J,Dumoulin C, Carroll MS, Mayrand MH, Bergeron S, Khalifé S, Waddell G, Morin M; Provoked Vestibulodynia (PVD) Study Group. Efficiency and Cost: E-Recruitment Is a Promising Method in Gynecological Trials. J Sex Med. 2020 Jul;17(7):1304-1311. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.04.005. PMID:32434709

Dumoulin C, Cacciari L, Mayrand MH. Implementing Group-Based Pelvic Floor Muscle Training in Clinical Practice-Reply. JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Mar 1;181(3):406-407. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7110. PMID:33315042.

Cyr MP,Dumoulin C, Bessette P, Pina A, Gotlieb WH, Lapointe-Milot K, Mayrand MH, Morin M. Changes in pelvic floor morphometry and muscle function after multimodal physiotherapy for gynaecological cancer survivors suffering from dyspareunia: a prospective interventional study. 2022 Mar;114:54-62. doi: 10.1016/j.physio.2021.09.003. PMID:35093737.

Cyr MP,Dumoulin C, Bessette P, Pina A, Gotlieb WH, Lapointe-Milot K, Mayrand MH, Morin M. A Prospective Single-Arm Study Evaluating the Effects of a Multimodal Physical Therapy Intervention on Psychosexual Outcomes in Women With Dyspareunia After Gynecologic Cancer. J Sex Med. 2021 May;18(5):946-954. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.02.014. PMID:33931347 

Cyr MP,Dumoulin C, Bessette P, Pina A, Gotlieb WH, Lapointe-Milot K, Morin M.Characterizing Pelvic Floor Muscle Function and Morphometry in Survivors of Gynecological Cancer Who Have Dyspareunia: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study. Phys Ther. 2021 Apr 4;101(4):pzab042. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzab042.PMID:

Cacciari LP, Morin M, Mayrand MH, Tousignant M, Abrahamowicz M,Dumoulin C. Pelvic floor morphometrical and functional changes immediately after pelvic floor muscle training and at 1-year follow-up, in older incontinent women. Neurourol Urodyn. 2021 Jan;40(1):245-255. doi: 10.1002/nau.24542. PMID:33075192