Abdul Sultan is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with a special interest in urogynaecology at Mayday University Hospital, Croydon as well as a honorary senior lecturer at St George's University of London. He completed his basic medical training (MB.ChB) in South Africa prior to moving to the United Kingdom in 1984 and obtained the MRCOG degree in 1990. He subsequently he took up a research post under the supervision of Prof Chris Hudson at St Bartholomews and Homerton Hospital and Professors Clive Bartram and Mike Kamm at St Mark's Hospital. The research involved studying the effects of childbirth on the pelvic floor and anal sphincters. This led to a landmark paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine and to a Doctorate (MD) from the University of Natal. His pioneering work highlighted the deficiencies in training of doctors and midwives in detecting and repairing injuries to the perineum and anal sphincter after child birth.

He is currently a consultant in a busy tertiary referral urogynaecology department at Mayday University Hospital, with a large clinical workload, dealing with complex urogynaecological problems including tertiary referrals, teaching medical students, training junior doctors and undertaking clinical research. The unit is recognised for subspecialty training in urogynaecology and runs an active research programme. The Croydon continence team was recently awarded the hospital doctor award for The Continence Team of the Year (2005). In addition he was awarded the prestigious UK Hospital Doctor of the Year award. Along with Ranee Thakar he runs the popular perineal repair courses at Mayday Hospital. His publications include many original papers in peer reviewed journals and many contributions to book chapters. He has also co-edited a book on perineal and anal sphincter trauma.

Publications

Original articles

• Sultan AH, Nicholls RJ, Kamm MA, Hudson CN, Beynon J, Bartram CI. Anal Endosonography and correlation with in vitro and in vivo anatomy. British Journal of Surgery 1992; 80:808–811.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Hudson CN, Thomas JM, Bartram CI. Anal sphincter disruption during vaginal delivery. New England Journal of Medicine, 1993;329:1905–11.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Hudson CN. Pudendal nerve damage during labour: prospective study before and after childbirth. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1994;101:22–28.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Hudson CN, Bartram CI. Effects of pregnancy on anal sphincter function and morphology. International Journal of Colorectal Disease 1993;8:206–9.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Bartram CI, Hudson CN. Anal sphincter trauma during instrumental delivery. A comparison between forceps and vacuum extraction. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 1993;43:263–70.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Talbot IC, Nicholls RJ, Bartram CI. Anal endosonography: Precision of identifying sphincter defects confirmed histologically. British Journal of Surgery 1994;81:466–469.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Nicholls RJ, Hudson CN, Bartram CI. Endosonography of the anal sphincters: normal anatomy and comparison with manometry. Clinical Radiology 1994;49:368–374.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Hudson CN, Bartram CI. Third degree obstetric anal sphincter tears: risk factors and outcome of primary repair. British Medical Journal 1994;308:887–891.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Nicholls RJ, Bartram CI. Internal anal sphincter division during lateral sphincterotomy. Prospective ultrasound study. Diseases of the Colon & Rectum 1994;37:1031–1033.
• Lunniss PJ, Barker PG, Sultan AH, Armstrong P, Reznek RH, Bartram CI, Cottam KS, Phillips RKS. Magnetic resonance imaging of fistula-in-ano. Diseases of the Colon & Rectum 1994:37:708–718.
• Engel AF, Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Nicholls RJ, Bartram CI. Outcome after anterior obstetric sphincter repair. British Journal of Surgery 1994:81:1231–1234.
• Sultan AH, Loder PB, Bartram CI, Kamm MA, Hudson CN. Vaginal Endosonography: new technique to image the undisturbed anal sphincter. Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, 1994;37:1296–1299.
• Sultan AH, Kamm MA, Hudson CN. Obstetric perineal tears: an audit of training. Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 1995;15:19–23.
• Halligan S, Sultan A, Rottenberg G, Bartram CI. Endosonography of the anal sphincters in solitary rectal ulcer syndrome. International Journal of Colorectal Disease 1995;10:79–82.
• Sultan AH, Johanson RB, Carter JE. Occult anal sphincter trauma following randomized forceps and vacuum delivery. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 1998;61:113–9.
• Sultan AH, Monga AM, Kumar D, Stanton SL. Primary repair of obstetric anal sphincter rupture using the overlap technique. British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 1999;106:318–23.
• Johanson RB, Heycock E, Carter J, Sultan AH, Walklate K, Jones PW. Maternal and child health after assisted vaginal delivery: five year follow up of a randomised controlled study comparing forceps and ventouse. British Journal of Obsterics & Gynaecology 1999:106:544–49.
• Butler-Manuel SA, Summervile, Ford A, Blake P, Riley AJ, Sultan AH, Monga AK, Stanton SL, Shepherd JH, Barton DPJ. Self-assessment of morbidity following radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1999,19 (2):182–3.
• Chaliha C, Kalia V, Stanton SL, Monga A, Sultan AH. Antenatal prediction of postpartum urinary and fecal incontinence. Obstetrics and Gynecology 1999;94:689–94.
• Chaliha C, Kalia V, Stanton SL, Monga A, Sultan AH. Pregnancy and delivery: a urodynamic viewpoint. British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 2000;107:1354–1359.
• Chaliha C, Sultan AH, Kalia V, Monga AK, Stanton SL. Anal function: effect of pregnancy and delivery. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2001;185:427–32.