The Oxford urogynaecology department has been at the forefront of developing minimally invasive approaches to managing the common conditions of prolapse and incontinence, for which one in ten women will undergo surgery in their lifetime. Some of these procedures involve the use of non-absorbable synthetic mesh which has been subject to much scrutiny due to high rates of adverse events with some applications.

We will present some recent large cross-sectional data and a randomised study we have undertaken to assess the safety and efficacy of a particular intervention, laparoscopic mesh sacrohysteropexy, as well as qualitative research to understand more broadly women’s experiences of these conditions and interventions. We will then discuss our future work including an NIHR funded study of women’s experiences of urogynaecological services led by the Primary Care Health Sciences group and early-stage projects involving large registry datasets and host response to biomaterials.

Bio: Matthew Izett-Kay is a full-time clinician working as a subspecialty registrar in urogynaecology at The John Radcliffe. He has trained for the last ten years in London, undertaking some initial clinical research with Professor Linda Cardozo at King’s College Hospital, followed by two years of doctoral research at UCL’s EGA Institute for Women’s Health supervised by Mr Arvind Vashisht where his MD looked at the role of mesh for the treatment of uterine prolapse. Research experience includes prospective clinical and cross-sectional studies, pelvic floor imaging, patient reported outcome measures, and qualitative research into pelvic floor conditions. He is a co-applicant on the NIHR funded PURSUE study lead by Dr Abigail McNiven and Dr Fran Toye of the Primary Care Health sciences group.