Urinary incontinence (UI), defined as the involuntary loss of urine, is a significant health and social problem for women of all ages. UI affects approximately 13 million Americans (about
10-35% of adults) and at least half of the 1.5 million nursing home residents. Besides the inconvenience, embarrassment, and expense of dealing with UI, there are far more serious complications including infections, falls, and even institutionalization.
UI is not a normal consequence of aging and can be successfully treated 80% of the time.
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) affects women of all ages and is the most common type of UI seen in young adult women. SUI occurs when urine leaks due to increased pressure in the abdomen causing downward pressure on the bladder in the setting of a weakened (incompetent) urethral sphincter.
Too often, women are too embarrassed to report the problem to their health care provider, or they figure that incontinence is an inevitable part of bearing children and growing older. UI can be treated successfully, thus preventing a great deal of expense, inconvenience, embarrassment, and even more serious complications. There are several behavioral and pharmacologic, as well as surgical interventions.
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Surgery for urinary incontinence. 2000
Conservative management for urinary incontinence. 2000
Ureteric kinking after colposuspension: a case report and review of the literature. Ulster Medical Journal. 2000
Weakness of the pelvic floor: urological consequences. Hospital Medicine (London). 2000
Weighted vaginal cones for urinary incontinence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [computer file]. 2000
Urinary stress incontinence among obese women: review of pathophysiology therapy. International Urogynecology Journal & Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. 2000
Sling techniques in the treatment of genuine stress incontinence. BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 2000
The use of cadaveric fascia lata in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women. Bju International. 2000
Stress urinary incontinence. Current Opinion in Urology. 1999
Injection therapy for stress incontinence in women. International Urogynecology Journal & Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. 1999
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