TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa General Hospital became the first health system in the West Florida Region on May 18 to perform a procedure using Bulkamid®, a hydrogel that restores the natural closing of the urethra to help women suffering from stress urinary incontinence.
The procedure was performed at Brandon Healthplex, the ambulatory surgery center owned by Tampa General, by Dr. Raviender Bukkapatnam, medical director of Urology at Tampa General.
“We are pleased to be able to offer a new procedure that has so much potential to improve the quality of life for so many of our patients,” Bukkapatnam said. “This procedure represents a new approach that may help women who were not helped by previous treatment options. This kind of thinking is another way Tampa General shows our commitment to become the safest and most innovative academic health system in America.”
About one in three women have stress urinary incontinence at some point in their lives according to the Urology Care Foundation. Childbirth is one of the main contributing causes of the condition. It is caused by weakness in the pelvic floor, preventing the urethra from closing fully when sudden pressure is put on the bladder. This can allow urine to leak out during normal daily activities such as coughing, laughing, exercising or lifting an object.
Bulkamid is delivered using a syringe via a series of small injections into the urethral wall in a minimally invasive, office or outpatient facility procedure. Once it is injected, the volume of the gel adds bulk to the urethra, supporting the closing mechanism of the urethra and providing better control of urine.
A clinical study has shown that 75 percent of women reported improvement in their symptoms after treatment, with half of women having no incontinence episodes. Additional studies have shown that Bulkamid retains its characteristics for many years, providing long-lasting relief from symptoms.
The procedure is minimally invasive and takes about 10 or 15 minutes to perform. In most cases, the procedure is performed using a local anesthetic. Patients usually go home the same day and resume normal activities within 24 hours.
The FDA approved Bulkamid in early 2020, but the treatment has been used in other countries for 10 years and has been used to treat over 70,000 women in that time. Bulkamid is sold by Axonics Inc., a medical technology company based in Irvine, Calif.
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