Medtronic-OptiLUTS Chair
Symptoms of the lower urinary tract are an extremely common condition, and are associated with a reduced quality of life. Diagnosis and treatment of these has been an important clinical activity and research interest for many decades within the Urogynaecology department in the Ghent University Hospital. Since this pathology increases with age, and due to demographic changes, this means that there is a huge need to optimise treatment. Above all there are increasing costs related to the diagnosis and therapy of treatment-resistant symptoms.
Objectives
Through this chair, Medtronic and Ghent University wish to conduct research into optimising health care for treatment-resistant symptoms of the lower urinary tract. The path towards this optimalisation is based on guidelines from the government (networks, clustering of specialised care, interdisciplinary collaboration), and academic research.
The plan is to expand this to larger patient populations with treatment-resistant symptoms of the lesser pelvis , including pain, gynaecological, and gastrointestinal complaints. Initially the research will also include gastrointestinal complaints seeing as many similar processes are already involved in the care in both of these departments, and so it seems logical to group these activities together.
Donors
Period
2017-present
Supervisor
Prof. Karel Everaert is a Professor in Neuro-urology and specialist in the Urology department of Ghent University Hospital.
Prof. Everaert has been involved in over 50 clinical trials in neuro-urology and incontinence. His areas of expertise include: urinary catheters, sacral neuromodulation, and bladder function. He conducts clinical research into nocturnal polyuria, incontinence, and LUTS (Lower urinary tract symptoms) in older patients.