Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is the first of its kind in the UK to offer dedicated healthcare to women and families, including a full range of gynaecological, maternity and neonatal care services. Its specialist urogynaecology facility relies on the Galaxy family of retractors – especially the Galaxy II® Slider – for most of its major vaginal surgeries to customise retraction to fit each patient, as Matthew Parsons, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, explained.
Introducing…
Birmingham Women’s Hospital is part of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, which offers world-class family-centric care to over 600,000 patients every year. The hospital is one of just two dedicated centres of excellence for women’s health in the UK – with one of the busiest single site maternity units – providing specialist services to more than 50,000 patients. Matthew said: “I am the clinical lead for a team of four consultants in urogynaecology, and pelvic floor medicine and surgery, at the hospital. We perform many perineal and vaginal procedures to help women who are experiencing all kinds of concerns, from urinary incontinence and obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASIS) to perineal trauma and pelvic organ prolapse.”
We later switched to using the Galaxy II Square self-retaining retractor from JUNE Medical for unassisted surgical retraction with more consistent retraction. We have always been pleased with the Galaxy II so, following a conversation with JUNE’s CEO Angela Spang at an industry event, I decided to trial the Galaxy II Slider, and I intuitively liked it from the get-go.
We later switched to using the Galaxy II Square self-retaining retractor from JUNE Medical for unassisted surgical retraction with more consistent retraction. We have always been pleased with the Galaxy II so, following a conversation with JUNE’s CEO Angela Spang at an industry event, I decided to trial the Galaxy II Slider, and I intuitively liked it from the get-go.Making new connections
Surgical retractors are vital for enabling clear visualisation of the site. Matthew added: “We require retraction in all hysterectomies and vaginal repairs – both anterior and posterior – and historically used a sidewall retractor with an assistant for this. We later switched to using the Galaxy II Square self-retaining retractor from JUNE Medical for unassisted surgical retraction with more consistent retraction. We have always been pleased with the Galaxy II so, following a conversation with JUNE’s CEO Angela Spang at an industry event, I decided to trial the Galaxy II Slider, and I intuitively liked it from the get-go.”
Adjusting without compromise
“The greatest benefit to the Galaxy II Slider is that the width is easily adjustable. This means that we can adapt the retraction to suit the individual anatomy of each patient without compromise; it’s the best fit for the most people, in my opinion. The sliding mechanism is also cleverly and ergonomically designed so that it does not get in the way of the surgical site, and allows for seamless adjustments even during the procedure. If the tension is not right, I can simply adjust all of the hooks at the same time with one movement on the slider, saving time and effort. I especially like that at the end I can close the retractor and all of the hooks can lift off, so that I can dispose of it in one go.”
Packaged to perfection
“The Galaxy II Slider kit comes with everything that you need to get started,” Matthew continued. “I’ve always liked that the rings and the hooks arrive together in a neat package. We have found that the kits are perfect for the majority of surgical scenarios in the hospital, and I have not felt the need to look elsewhere.”
Matthew Parsons was not paid for this interview.
