Dena Moskowitz

University of California, Irvine | UCI · Department of Urology

Purpose of Review Neurogenic bladder (NGB) dysfunction is a major source of morbidity and decreased quality of life after spinal cord injury (SCI). This review article analyzes the literature and explains the complexity of diagnosis, stresses the need for a thorough evaluation, and emphasizes clinical implications for management. Following a struct...

Voiding dysfunction is a known complication following pelvic floor reconstruction and can result in a challenging clinical scenario. Meticulous surgical technique and early recognition of voiding problems after surgery are paramount to avoiding long-term sequelae of voiding dysfunction or, in the extreme, urinary retention. While most cases of urin...

Purpose: Assessment of frailty can help surgeons predict perioperative risk and guide preoperative counseling, however current methods are often cumbersome in the clinical setting. The objective of this study is to prospectively compare the effectiveness of a rapid picture-based Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS-9) assessed by patient and surgeon agains...

Introduction and hypothesis: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a highly prevalent condition, but is often not discussed owing to social stigma. Reddit is an internet platform for anonymous information sharing, expression, and discussion. We sought to qualitatively analyze people's behavioral, psychological, and illness experiences with UI expressed on...

Purpose of Review Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) is an effective, minimally invasive treatment for refractory overactive bladder, non-obstructive urinary retention, and fecal incontinence. Although the treatment is 80% successful, optimal outcomes over time are achieved only by applying precise surgical technique. In this review, we will present the...

Aims To evaluate factors associated with progression to stage 2 sacral neuromodulation (SNM) for refractory overactive bladder, urinary retention, or fecal incontinence using optimal lead placement techniques with curved stylet. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of all consecutive stage 1 SNM lead place...

Objective: To improve patient counseling regarding mid-urethral slings (MUS), we performed an analysis of MUS patients dry at initial follow-up to evaluate probability of remaining dry over time, and analyzed clinical factors potentially influencing the probability of remaining dry. Methods: A retrospective review of our prospectively-collected...

Purpose: The opioid problem has reached epidemic proportions and the prescription of opioids after surgery can lead to chronic use. We explored prescribing patterns and opioid use after 3 pelvic floor surgeries (sacral neuromodulation, prolapse repair and mid urethral sling) before and after an educational intervention to reduce opioid prescriptio...

Purpose: Overactive bladder medications often have poor tolerability or lack of efficacy with many patients progressing to third line therapy such as sacral neuromodulation. Those treated with sacral neuromodulation may avoid the potential side effects of overactive bladder medications while achieving symptom improvement. We evaluated the postoper...

Objective: The prevalence of fecal incontinence (FI) is 8% in the United States. Many patients will not seek treatment and the condition is underdiagnosed. Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) is effective in treating FI, and so urologists can play a key role in its treatment. We examine the practice patterns and treatment of FI with SNM in our institutio...

Purpose of Review Surgical treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction is very common, and women who undergo surgery experience varying degrees of postoperative pain. Opioid pain medications have been the mainstay of postoperative pain control, but with the growing opioid epidemic, alternative pain management strategies are needed. This review examines t...

Purpose of Review Recurrent urinary tract infections are a common condition that can impact patients’ quality of life. The purpose of this review is to summarize and analyze the literature regarding the distress that these infections can cause to patients and provide guidance to clinicians on how to improve care of these patients. Recent Findings...

Purpose: Overactive bladder (OAB) impacts over 15% of the adult population. Compliance with medical treatment is low, due either to inadequate symptom control or intolerable side effects. Although third line therapies have improved the treatment of OAB, many patients do not receive optimal treatment. We hypothesize that the utilization of third li...

Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) represents a major health burden in the United States and around the world. A recent study (RAND Interstitial Cystitis Epidemiology) estimated that 6.5 % of American women suffer from the disease [1]. Women who were younger or college-educated had greater symptom persistence [2]. Treatment option...

Objective: To review the surgical technique, outcomes and complications of surgical excision of massive localized lymphedema of the scrotum, and to determine changes in weight and quality of life after excision. Materials and methods: A retrospective review was performed for all patients who have undergone excision of MLL of the scrotum at our i...

Background: Due to widespread use of computed tomography, the diagnosis of small renal cancers (≤ 3cm) within the T1a classification continues to rise. Current treatment of these tumors includes radical nephrectomy (RN), partial nephrectomy (PN), and thermal ablation (TA). Herein we use the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER...

We compared the effectiveness of targeted prophylaxis (TP) to the effectiveness of empiric prophylaxis (EP) for preventing sepsis after transrectal prostate biopsy (TRPB) using a retrospective multi-center quality improvement study. Thirteen Kaiser Permanente urology departments participated in a 1-year retrospective analysis of a quality improveme...