Prevalence of three lower urinary tract symptoms in men-a population-based study. (25/441)

BACKGROUND: Lower urinary tract symptoms are a common and costly public health issue. In earlier studies, the prevalence of urinary symptoms can be seen to fluctuate because there is no consensus about how to define and categorize the severity of the symptoms. OBJECTIVES: The study was undertaken in order to investigate the prevalence of three common lower urinary tract symptoms (urgency, stress incontinence and post-micturition dribbling) and analyse health care-seeking behaviour. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was developed to investigate all men aged 40-80 years residing in the community of Surahammar, Sweden. The questionnaire included items on three specific urinary symptoms: urgency, stress incontinence and post-micturition dribbling, and one question about health care-seeking behaviour. RESULTS: A response rate of 86% was obtained in the questionnaire study. The overall prevalence of the lower urinary tract symptoms was 24%. The prevalence increased from 20% in the group aged 40-49 years to 28% in the group aged 70-80 years (P < 0.01). Post-micturition dribbling (21%) was the most frequent symptom, and stress incontinence (2.4%) was the least frequent symptom. The number of participants who sought health care was low (4%) and increased significantly with age (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that 24% of the Swedish cohort of men of 40-80 years of age reported at least one of the following symptoms: urgency, stress incontinence or post-micturition dribbling. This study is consistent with other research regarding the low consultation frequency for these symptoms. Moreover, the study is also in accord with those findings indicating that for the majority of men with urinary symptoms, their health care providers are not aware of their problem.  (+info)

Prospective randomised controlled trial comparing laparoscopic and open colposuspension. (26/441)

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy, safety, complications, and short-term outcome of laparoscopic and open colposuspension in women with genuine stress incontinence. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Urogynaecology unit in a public hospital, Hong Kong. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ninety patients with urodynamically proven genuine stress incontinence. Forty-three patients were randomly allocated to receive open colposuspension and 47 to undergo laparoscopy. All patients had reassessment within 1 year of the operation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Objective and subjective measures and complication rates. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the duration of stress incontinence, mean preoperative pad test results, or proportion with pre-existing detrusor instability. Among patients in the laparoscopic group, the mean operating time was significantly longer (42.0 minutes versus 29.3 minutes; P<0.0001), while the mean blood loss was significantly less (124.7 mL versus 326.9 mL; P=0.001). Subjective and objective success rates within 1 year were similar for patients in the open and laparoscopic groups (86.0% versus 80.9%; P=0.58, and 86.0% versus 85.1%; P=1.00, respectively). There was no significant difference in the rate of complications, including de novo detrusor instability and an obstructive voiding pattern, enterocele, or dyspareunia. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic colposuspension is a feasible alternative to the open approach. The operating time is longer but the short-term cure rate is comparable with that of the open approach.  (+info)

Concomitant surgery with laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy. (27/441)

Routine live donor evaluations reveal unexpected silent pathologies. Herein, we describe our experience treating such pathologies at the time of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. We have not encountered any previous reports of such an approach. We prospectively collected data on 321 donors. Concomitant surgeries at the time of procurement included two laparoscopic adrenalectomies, one colposuspension, one laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and one liver biopsy. Mean operative time was 321 min (range 230-380), with a mean blood loss of 280 mL (range 150-500). No blood transfusions were required. The left kidney was procured in four cases. The right kidney was obtained on one occasion. Mean hospital stay was 3 days (median 3, range 2-4). No short- or long-term complications have been identified. Mean follow-up time was 2.63 years (median 2.76, range 2.23-2.99). Four of the five kidney recipients were first-time transplants who had not yet started dialysis. Simultaneous surgical interventions at the time of laparoscopic live kidney donation are safe and can be undertaken in selected cases. This practice is beneficial to both the donor and the recipient, and is likely to become more commonplace with changing practice patterns involving donor evaluation and management.  (+info)

Urinary incontinence after vaginal delivery or cesarean section. (28/441)

BACKGROUND: It is uncertain whether women who deliver by cesarean section have an increased risk of urinary incontinence as compared with nulliparous women and whether women who deliver vaginally have an even higher risk. METHODS: We studied 15,307 women enrolled in the Epidemiology of Incontinence in the County of Nord-Trondelag (EPINCONT) study, which involved a community-based cohort. The data base for this study was linked to data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. We included women who answered questions related to urinary incontinence, were younger than 65 years of age, and had had no deliveries, cesarean sections only, or vaginal deliveries only. RESULTS: The prevalence of any incontinence was 10.1 percent in the nulliparous group; age-standardized prevalences were 15.9 percent in the cesarean-section group and 21.0 percent in the vaginal-delivery group. Corresponding figures for moderate or severe incontinence were 3.7 percent, 6.2 percent, and 8.7 percent, respectively; figures for stress incontinence were 4.7 percent, 6.9 percent, and 12.2 percent, respectively; figures for urge incontinence were 1.6 percent, 2.2 percent, and 1.8 percent, respectively; and figures for mixed-type incontinence were 3.1 percent, 5.3 percent, and 6.1 percent, respectively. As compared with nulliparous women, women who had cesarean sections had an adjusted odds ratio for any incontinence of 1.5 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.2 to 1.9) and an adjusted odds ratio for moderate or severe incontinence of 1.4 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.0 to 2.1). Only stress and mixed-type incontinence were significantly associated with cesarean sections. The adjusted odds ratio for any incontinence associated with vaginal deliveries as compared with cesarean sections was 1.7 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 2.1), and the adjusted odds ratio for moderate or severe incontinence was 2.2 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.5 to 3.1). Only stress incontinence (adjusted odds ratio, 2.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.7 to 3.2) was associated with the mode of delivery. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of urinary incontinence is higher among women who have had cesarean sections than among nulliparous women and is even higher among women who have had vaginal deliveries. However, these findings should not be used to justify an increase in the use of cesarean sections.  (+info)

Bladder wall thickness on ultrasonographic cystourethrography: affecting factors and their implications. (29/441)

OBJECTIVE: To explore factors affecting bladder wall thickness on ultrasonographic cystourethrography in female patients with lower urinary tract symptoms. METHODS: The records of 492 female patients with lower urinary tract symptoms who had undergone a urodynamic study and ultrasonography of the lower urinary tract and who had normal urinalysis findings, negative urine culture results, or both were identified from our urogynecologic database. These included 248 patients with urodynamic stress incontinence, 38 with detrusor overactivity, 39 with mixed incontinence, 35 with a hypersensitive bladder, 42 with voiding difficulty, and 90 with normal urodynamic findings. RESULTS: Age, resting bladder neck angle, urethral mobility, and maximum urethral closure pressure were significantly associated with bladder wall thickness at the trigone and dome. Bladder wall thickness at the trigone was correlated with that at the dome (P < .0001). Bladder wall thickness at the trigone was positively correlated with pressure transmission ratios in the first and second quarters of the urethra (P < .0001; P = .002, respectively), whereas that at the dome was positively correlated with intravesical pressure at maximum flow and with detrusor opening pressure (P = .027; P = .046, respectively). Age and intravesical pressure at maximum flow were independently associated with bladder wall thickness at the trigone and dome (P = .007; P = .028), respectively. A thickened bladder wall was a common finding in female lower urinary tract symptoms, except in the patients with a hypersensitive bladder. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic, anatomic, and urodynamic factors may affect the bladder wall thickness at the trigone, dome, or both.  (+info)

Introital and transvaginal ultrasound as the main tool in the assessment of urogenital and pelvic floor dysfunction: an imaging panel and practical approach. (30/441)

This article reviews the different applications of ultrasound in benign urogynecological diseases. The findings presented here were obtained by introital and transvaginal ultrasound, both of which can be performed with the same equipment (5-7-MHz sector transducer, emission angle of at least 90 degrees; for introital sonography, the transducer is placed over the external urethral orifice with the transducer axis corresponding to the body axis). Female voiding dysfunction, including urge symptoms, recurrent urinary tract infections and urinary incontinence, may occur secondary to morphological and topographical changes of the urogenital organs. Findings such as urethral diverticula, periurethral masses, funneling of the urethra and distension cystoceles are identified by introital ultrasound. Transvaginal ultrasound enables the detection of pathologies of the bladder and uterus including its appendages. Ultrasound as part of the diagnostic work-up of stress urinary incontinence and genitourinary prolapse allows for the morphological and dynamic assessment of the lower urinary tract. It is possible, for example, to classify sonographically identified changes of the endopelvic fascia as lateral (distraction cystocele, funneling of the urethra) and central (pulsation cystocele) defects as well as to determine the reactivity of the pelvic floor muscles. Ultrasound has replaced radiography in yielding information on the abnormal morphology of the urogenital organs, which should be taken into account in planning the treatment of urogynecological conditions.  (+info)

Systematic review of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of tension-free vaginal tape for treatment of urinary stress incontinence. (31/441)

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) in comparison with the standard surgical interventions currently used. DATA SOURCES: Literature searches were carried out on electronic databases and websites for data covering the period 1966--2002. Other sources included references lists of relevant articles; selected experts in the field; abstracts of a limited number of conference proceedings titles; and the Internet. REVIEW METHODS: A systematic review of studies including comparisons of TVT with any of the comparators was conducted. Alternative treatments considered were abdominal retropubic colposuspension (including both open and laparoscopic colposuspension), traditional suburethral sling procedures and injectable agents (periurethral bulking agents). The identified studies were critically appraised and their results summarised. A Markov model comparing TVT with the comparators was developed using the results of the review of effectiveness and data on resource use and costs from previously conducted studies. The Markov model was used to estimate costs and quality-adjusted life-years for up to 10 years following surgery and it incorporated a probabilistic analysis and also sensitivity analysis around key assumptions of the model. RESULTS: Based on limited data from direct comparisons with TVT and from systematic reviews, laparoscopic colposuspension and traditional slings have broadly similar cure rates to TVT and open colposuspension, whereas injectable agents appear to have lower cure rates. TVT is less invasive than colposuspension and traditional sling procedures, and is also usually performed under regional or local anaesthesia. The principal operative complication is bladder perforation. There are currently no randomised controlled trial (RCT) data beyond 2 years post-surgery, and long-term effects are therefore currently not known reliably. TVT was more likely to be considered cost-effective compared with the other surgical procedures. Increasing the absolute probability of cure following TVT reduced the likelihood that TVT would be considered cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term performance of TVT in terms of both continence and unanticipated adverse effects is not known reliably at the moment. Despite relatively few robust comparative data, it appears that in the short to medium term TVT's effectiveness approaches that of alternative procedures currently available, and is of lower cost. As TVT is a less invasive procedure, it is possible that some women who would currently be managed non-surgically will be considered eligible for TVT. Increased adoption of TVT will require additional surgeons proficient in the technique. It is likely that some of the higher rates of complications, e.g. bladder perforation, reported for TVT are associated with a 'learning curve'. Appropriate training will therefore be needed for surgeons new to the operation, in respect of both the technical aspects of the procedure and the choice of women suitable for the operation. Further research suggestions include unbiased assessments of longer term performance from follow-up of controlled trials or population-based registries; more data from methodologically sound RCTs using standard outcome measures; a surveillance system to detect longer term complications, if any, associated with the use of tape; and rigorous evaluation before extending the use of TVT to women who are currently managed non-surgically.  (+info)

COMMON UROLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN THE FEMALE. (32/441)

Stress incontinence, urge incontinence, and pyelitis of pregnancy are common urological conditions in the female. Poor therapeutic results in the treatment of stress incontinence may be traced to errors in diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis is based on an accurate history, residual urine test, the stress test, cystometric studies (to rule out neurogenic disturbances), cystourethroscopy and cystourethrography. The most important factor in the production of urge incontinence is infection. Some pathological conditions which may be associated with urge incontinence are urethritis, cystitis, urethral stricture, bladder-neck obstruction, urethral diverticula, urethral caruncle and the urgencyfrequency syndrome. Therapy is directed toward the eradication of infection and treatment of the specific lesion. In pyelitis of pregnancy it is urged that, in cases of unusual bacterial virulence and poor ureteral drainage, early cystoscopic ureteral catheter drainage should be instituted in order to prevent permanent kidney damage. The closest co-operation of urologist, gynecologist and general physician is necessary for clarification of some of the more complex problems.  (+info)