Clinical Research Directory

TReating Incontinence for Underlying Mental and Physical Health

The TRIUMPH study is a randomized, double-blinded, 3-arm, parallel-group trial designed to compare the effects of anticholinergic bladder therapy versus a) beta-3-adrenergic agonist bladder therapy and b) no bladder pharmacotherapy on cognitive, urinary, and other aging-related functional outcomes in ambulatory older women with urgency-predominant urinary incontinence and either normal or mildly impaired cognitive function at baseline.

Continence, Sexual Function, Fitness and the Health of Men After Surgery for Prostate Cancer

The Continence, Sexual and Metabolic Health (CONTROL 4 LIFE) study will evaluate the recovery of continence, sexual function, and health outcomes in individuals who have undergone surgery for prostate cancer. The purpose of this study is to better understand the timelines of recovery for these outcomes after surgery for prostate cancer. As part of this study, all participants will receive resources offered by Alberta Health Services regarding pre- and post-prostatectomy care, including information on pelvic floor exercises. Through the CONTROL 4 LIFE study, the investigators will also be evaluating outcomes related to physical activity, fitness and quality of life. These assessments will enable the investigators to better understand how well and how long it takes for individuals to recover after surgery for prostate cancer.

Electrical Stimulation for Continence After Spinal Cord Injury

This study aims to improve continence and voiding of patients with spinal cord injury using electrical stimulation. The Finetech Vocare Bladder System is an implantable sacral nerve stimulator for improving bladder and bowel function in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). It has been commercially available in Britain and other countries since 1982, and has been used in thousands of patients with SCI to improve bladder, bowel and sexual function. It received FDA approval in 1998 under Humanitarian Device Exemption H980005 and H980008 for providing urination on demand and to aid in bowel evacuation. Electrical stimulation to produce bladder contraction and improve bladder voiding after spinal cord injury has usually been combined with cutting of sensory nerves to reduce reflex contraction of the bladder, which improves continence. However, cutting these nerves has undesirable side effects. This study will not cut any sensory nerve. This study is testing the use of the stimulator for inhibiting bladder contraction by stimulating sensory nerves to improve continence after spinal cord injury, and for blocking sphincter contraction to improve voiding.

RElax & feeL at EASE (RELEASE)

This multicenter, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial (RELEASE) aims to evaluate the efficacy of two educational approaches on acceptance and adherence to intermittent catheterization (IC) among adult male patients. Participants requiring IC training will be randomized to either an enhanced educational intervention (informational booklet, video tutorial, and standard training) or standard clinical practice training alone. The primary outcome is the change in Intermittent Catheterization Acceptance Test (I-CAT) scores over three months. Secondary outcomes include adherence (I-CAS), urinary symptoms (USQNB-IC), patient autonomy, satisfaction with assistive technology (QUEST), and functional abilities. The study seeks to identify the most effective educational strategy to improve psychological acceptance, promote adherence, and reduce complications in patients performing IC, ultimately supporting patient-centered care and health system efficiency.

A Telehealth Intervention to Increase Patient Preparedness for Surgery in Latinas

There are 3 aims of this study. In Aim 1 community patient partners will be enrolled to help guide the research being performed in all of the aims. Investigators will also administer a survey that will help determine factors associated with surgical preparedness. In Aim 2 investigators will develop an intervention to increase surgical preparedness using Human Centered Design Methods. Aim 3 will pilot test the intervention using mixed methods to determine feasibility and implementation outcomes.

Adverse Outcomes Following Female Genital Fistula Repair

Following genital fistula repair, fistula repair breakdown and recurrence, persistent and incidence incontinence are major adverse outcomes, limiting women's health and wellbeing. Using a prospective design, the investigators seek to identify modifiable risk factors to establish key targets for intervention, followed by qualitative work to refine the feasibility and acceptability of potential intervention strategies.

Pelvic Health Rehabilitation After Breast and Gynecologic Cancer

The GYVE study aims at testing an online program (eModule) to help people who have had breast or gynecologic cancer and are experiencing pelvic health issues like urinary incontinence and pain during sex. These cancers and their treatments can cause significant pelvic health problems, affecting daily life and quality of life. Physiotherapy can help, but access is often limited due to costs and other barriers. The study will involve 20 participants from Quebec and Edmonton, who will take part in a 12-week program with weekly online group sessions led by a physiotherapist. Topics include pelvic floor muscle training, use of vaginal moisturizers, hydration, diet, and pain management. Led by experts in cancer rehabilitation and pelvic health, the study aims to provide valuable information on the feasibility and effectiveness of the eModule, potentially leading to broader implementation to help more people with lived experience of cancer.

Bladder Wall Thickness in Symptomatic Urinary Stress Incontinence and Its Correlation with Urodynamics Results

This clinical study aims to assess the utility of ultrasonographic bladder wall thickness (BWT) measurement in patients suffering from symptomatic stress urinary incontinence (SUI). SUI is a condition characterized by involuntary leakage of urine during activities that increase intra-abdominal pressure and represents a very frequent disorder impacting women's quality of life. To diagnose SUI more accurately and especially before surgical treatment, patients undergo invasive urodynamic examination. This examination allows us to objectify the presence of any bladder dysfunction and, in particular, to evaluate the presence of detrusor overactivity. Detrusor overactivity is defined as any occurrence of detrusor contraction(s) during filing cystometry. These contractions, which may be spontaneous or provoked, produce a waveform on the cystogram, of variable duration and amplitude and may cause or not urgency symptoms. In absence of any urodynamic detrusor overactivity, the patient may be diagnosed with pure SUI. This is essential to assess before surgical treatment to avoid worsening of symptoms and to decide whether to treat the patient with concomitant pharmacological treatment. On the contrary, ultrasonography offers a non-invasive and accessible approach to evaluate bladder function. This study will involve a cohort of patients with SUI, who will undergo ultrasonographic assessment of BWT and preoperative urodynamic assessment. The objective is to determine whether BWT correlates with the urodynamics results and whether it can predict the presence or absence of detrusor overactivity and confirm the pure stress urinary incontinence

Effectiveness of the AI-Supporter in Reducing Urinary Tract Infections

The "AI Supporter," an intelligent excretion management robot, leverages artificial intelligence-based vision recognition to autonomously detect and cleanse affected areas, followed by drying and changing the diaper, thereby reducing caregiver strain and enhancing care quality. This study aims to assess the efficacy of the "AI Supporter" in decreasing the incidence of urinary tract infections and incontinence-associated dermatitis among incontinent patients, in addition to exploring its cost-effectiveness. Adopting an experimental (two groups) and longitudinal design, this research utilizes both convenience and random sampling strategies. The study anticipates recruiting 60 female subjects who have been confined to bed for more than three months with urinary and/or fecal incontinence. Participants will intermittently use the AI Supporter over a 14-day period. Measurement tools include routine urine analysis.

Quality of Life After Conservative and Surgical Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse

This is an observational study that gives baseline and follow-up information, that does not directly influence the allocation of patients to various treatment Options (conservative and surgical therapy of Pelvic Organ Prolapse) but the knowledge gained of the data will help to develop treatment strategies.

Penile Vibratory Stimulation in the Prevention of Sexual Dysfunction and Urinary Incontinence After Radical Prostatectomy

To investigate if post-operative penile vibration stimulation kan be used to reduce or prevent sexual dysfunction and urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy. This will be done in a randomized, controlled, non-blinded study. Men that undergo nerve preserving surgery for prostate cancer is allocated into an intervention group and a control group. A total of 100 men will be included for a power of 80%. The intervention group will be instructed to use the "Ferticare 2.0" vibrator for at least five minutes a day with an amplitude of 1 mm and frequency of 90 Hz (these settings were found in a pilot study) for a total of 9 months. Both groups will do the standard pelvic floor training program and both groups will be offered regular phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitor treatment. Before surgery, 3, 6 and 10 months after the patients will have to fill out four different questionnaires regarding sexual and urinary function, including IIEF-EF, EHS, "neglected side effects" and ICIQ-SF. (10 months is due to a wash-out period of 1 month after the intervention). The collected data will be analysed and the primary goal is to see if there is a significant difference in average spontaneous IIEF-EF score in the two groups 10 months after the surgery.

Multicenter Study for Diagnosis and Treatment of Perianal Abscesses

Drainage of perianal abscesses is a well established treatment. Traditionally its been done in general anesthesia after the swelling has been localised its been drained with a knife. After surgical intervention complications can occur with recidivism, chronic fistulas that go from the anal to the skin and sometimes the anal sphincter is damaged which can cause problems with incontinence. Through ultrasound the abscess is opened under more controlled forms with a better visual overview. This is a new technique that has not been tested in larger studies. The aim with ultrasound-drainage as with traditional incision to drain the abscess so that the infected area can heal. The hypothesis is a reduction of recurrences and formation of fistulas with the use of 3D ultrasonography.