There is not much talk about it… But gynecological problems are becoming more and more acute in Ukraine.
Olena Prykupenko, PhD, obstetrician-gynecologist of the highest category, an employee of the gynecological unit of the Lviv Regional Hospital named after Y.Lypa, tells us about the difficulties Ukrainian women face and the help they receive.
Is stress the cause?
There are several factors that have led to the rise in gynecological diseases, but they all have the same root cause: WAR. From the first day of the full-scale invasion, the lives of Ukrainians were divided into “before” and “after”. The world of millions of people simply crumbled under the rocket attacks.
“The steady stream of wounded people who found shelter in the Lviv region in the first months of the war needed medical care not only in trauma and surgical departments,” Olena recalls. A large percentage of the evacuees were women, and many of them had gynecological disorders.
Patients who were in the occupied territories did not have access to medical care for a long time. Others had their illnesses worsen due to the stress they experienced and, being in a severe emotional state, they did not undergo routine medical examinations even upon arrival in Lviv.
Therefore, cases of complications due to advanced pathology are not uncommon.
Prolonged stay in shelters, unheated basements and damp rooms during shelling, especially in the autumn and winter, provokes diseases of the internal genital organs. Most often, female reproductive organs are affected.
Consequence that can become a verdict
This is how a woman perceives the diagnosis of infertility, which is caused by various diseases of the internal genitalia. Acute and chronic inflammatory processes destroy a woman’s reproductive health.
The war also affected expectant mothers who dared to give life to a child in this terrible time.
The horrors of shelling, worries about children already born and unborn, fear for men at the front – all of this leads to problematic pregnancy, the threat of miscarriage, and complicated births.
Of course, the number of pregnant women in Ukraine has significantly decreased, and this is a problem today and for many years to come.
Opening of a gynecological unit at the Lviv Regional Hospital named after Y.Lypa
The gynecological unit at the hospital was founded at the beginning of the war. The flow of patients was overwhelming, and the doctors’ work was complicated by the fact that the injuries received during the shelling were accompanied by problems in the field of gynecology. Among the diseases were menstrual disorders, pathological conditions of the endometrium, ovarian and uterine tumors, and inflammatory processes of the female genital organs, which were worsened by stress. Comprehensive inpatient treatment was urgently needed.
So Dr. Prykupenko and her team of colleagues initiated the organization of the gynecological unit.
Now patients do not need to be taken to another hospital for examination and treatment in the gynecology department: they are treated on the spot.
The creation of the unit was not easy, as it required considerable funds. The team applied to many foundations, sponsors and charitable associations were involved.
To achieve these goals, assistance was also provided by the leadership of the Lviv Regional State Administration, the Department of Health of the Lviv Regional State Administration, and the hospital’s management, but the most significant contribution was made by Social Projects Center of Future Foundation, namely the purchase of high-tech medical and diagnostic equipment.
The Social Projects Center of Future Foundation and the Lviv Regional Hospital named after Y.Lypa: common goal, common victories
In 2022, the doctors of the gynecological unit began cooperating with the Foundation. Since then, the work has changed significantly: today, almost all surgical interventions on the female genital organs are performed using minimally invasive endoscopic methods. This was made possible in the gynecological unit of the Lviv hospital, thanks to the equipment provided by the Foundation.
The latest minimally invasive medical equipment allows for low-trauma, organ-preserving minimally invasive surgical interventions that require a minimum of time. The combination of modern equipment and high professionalism of doctors has become a real breakthrough in the hospital’s work. Until 2022, there was no gynecological unit here at all, so the specialists had to start from scratch.
The greatest grief is burying children
Working with people who have come from the occupied territories, doctors invariably face their unspeakable grief, their heartbreaking stories that cannot be forgotten.
Olena Viktorivna Prykupenko remembers many of them, but this one impressed her the most.
An elderly couple from Mariupol with four children witnessed the terrible deaths of their daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren during the evacuation of the city.
Upon arrival in Lviv, the woman was diagnosed with a tumor of the uterine appendages. Here she underwent surgery, but her recovery was slow because she was under extreme stress, as she received terrible news one after another: her son was killed, her daughter was in russian captivity. Of the large family, only she and her husband, who was also elderly, survived.
However, the treatment was successful. She and her husband settled in the town of Vynnyky, but the doctors do not know how their fate developed in the future.
Moving forward
The active work of the gynecological unit means constant progress, which in turn brings new needs.
– Endoscopic laparoscopic equipment requires regular repair and restoration.
– Laparoscopic instruments for endoscopic minimally invasive interventions and other instruments need to be constantly replenished. Today, for example, the department needs to update its surgical instruments for laparoscopic surgery.
The unit also plans to purchase an endoscopic illuminator and light guides.
All that the team has achieved would not have been possible without the support of charitable foundations, and in particular, Social Projects Center of Future. The specialists are very grateful for the assistance provided and make every effort to ensure that it brings the greatest benefit to Ukrainian women, preserving their health and reproductive function!
For more than 2 years of cooperation, the Foundation has provided assistance to the gynecological department of the Lviv Regional Hospital named after Y. Lypa in the amount of 2,220,580 UAH (approx. 57,000$).
At the expense of the foundation, a laparoscopic stand for minimally invasive operations was almost completely equipped, which has a huge impact on the quality and recovery time of the patient after the intervention!
