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t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 9 15 t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 9 Four Days in Haiti Urogynecologists travel to the tropical country to treat women with pelvic floor disorders and train local surgeons B y S h a n l e y P i e r c e W omen in Haiti do not have access to medical care that could alleviate the pain and embar- rassment surrounding many pelvic floor disorders. To remedy that, a team of Houston doctors traveled to the island to treat women suffering from these conditions and teach Haitian doctors different proce- dures and surgeries specific to the pelvic floor. "It's so important to be able to open people's eyes to the state of health care on a global scale," said Tristi Muir, M.D., professor and chair of the Houston Methodist Hospital OB-GYN department and one of four Methodist urogynecolo- gists on the mission trip to Pignon, Haiti. "It gives you another view on thinking about health care resources and how we use them in this coun- try—how you can be innovative when you're in a country with fewer resources." Pelvic floor disorders include a range of conditions caused by weak- ened or damaged pelvic muscles, ligaments, connective tissues and nerves attached to the pelvic organs. Urinary incontinence (lack of blad- der control), fecal incontinence (lack of bowel control) and pelvic organ prolapse (a weakening of the sup- porting muscles and tissues around the pelvic organs that causes the pelvic organs to drop into or out of the vagina) are all examples of pelvic floor disorders. These disorders are common— approximately 24 percent of women in the U.S. are affected—but can be successfully treated with physical therapy, medication and surgery. However, women in Haiti—the poor- est country in the Americas, accord- ing to the World Bank—don't have access to this type of care. Without it, their quality of life deteriorates. Muir first visited Pignon, a community of about 30,000 people in northern Haiti, in May 2016 with Keith Reeves, M.D., emeritus profes- sor of obstetrics and gynecology at Houston Methodist. Both of Muir's trips were funded by Houston law- yer Derek Potts through the Potts Family Foundation. Potts, whose father was an ear, nose and throat physician, is a leading attorney in transvaginal mesh litigation. The four-doctor team—Muir, Fiona Lindo, M.D., Danielle Antosh, M.D., and Shweta Pai, M.D.—began planning their trip at the end of 2017. "I utilized our hospital to get supplies and started collecting things that [the hospital] didn't use that hadn't expired—everything we could think of so we could actually provide care for these women," said Lindo, medical director of urogy- necology at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, whose experience running national mobile clinics helped prepare the team for Pignon. "For us, as a urogynecol- ogy division, we are so focused on teaching and expanding the field of urogynecology, not only locally, but globally." ➟ Houston Methodist urogynecologists Tristi Muir, M.D., Fiona Lindo, M.D., Danielle Antosh, M.D., and Shweta Pai, M.D., traveled to Pignon, Haiti, for a medical mission trip. Credit: All Haiti photos courtesy of Houston Methodist The Hospital Bienfaisance de Pignon, where the team treated patients during their trip, runs on a single generator.