Conservative Therapy of Female Urinary Incontinence – Potential and Effect

Overview

Non-surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence is not as effective as surgical methods but it is very successful in indicated cases. Rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles (Kegel exercises, vaginal cones, and electrostimulation of the pelvic floor muscles), drug treatment (alfa-mimetics, tricyclic antidepressives, estrogens, duloxetin), pessarotherapy and uretral obturator devices represent possibilities of conservative therapy of the stress incontinence. Conservative therapy is the method of choice in the treatment of urge incontinence. The most successful are anticholinergic drugs but they have very frequent serious side effects (dryness of the mucous membranes, accommodation disorders, constipation). Spasmolytics, estrogens and tricyclic antidepressives are the other popular used drugs. Life style modification, bladder training and electrostimulation represent very important parts of the conservative treatment. Effectiveness of the non-surgical treatment of both urge and stress urinary incontinence can not reach 100 percent but it helps very much in the quality of life improvement of incontinent women. 

Key words:
female urinary incontinence, conservative therapy, pelvic floor exercises, electrostimulation, anticholinergic drugs, side effects.