University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Non-Surgical Management of Urinary Incontinence

Author/s:

Ranna Al-Dossari, Monica Kalra, Julie Adkison, Bich-May Nguyen

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Urinary incontinence management varies depending on the type of incontinence and severity of symptoms. Types of incontinence include stress (SUI), urge or overactive bladder (OAB), mixed, neurogenic, and overflow incontinence. First-line treatment for OAB and SUI is nonpharmacologic management. Behavioral therapy is first-line treatment for urge incontinence. Vaginal mechanical devices (cones, pessaries, and urethral plugs), pelvic floor muscle training, and electroacupuncture are recommended as first-line treatment for women with SUI. Biofeedback and electric muscle stimulation can be adjunctive therapy for SUI. Antimuscarinics and β-3 agonists can be used as adjective therapy for those with OAB who do not improve with behavioral therapy. β-3 agonists have less anticholinergic side effects compared with antimuscarinics for OAB. Adverse medication effects can often lead to discontinuation due to poor tolerability. Third-line therapies are for those who fail conservative and pharmacologic therapies and lack high-grade evidence. Neuromodulation, neurotoxin injections, vaginal laser therapy, and acupuncture are third-line in OAB management. Pharmacologic management with α-1-blockers is recommended as first-line treatment for moderate to severe overflow incontinence from BPH. 5-α reductase inhibitors can be used as an adjunct medication in those with refractory overflow incontinence symptoms and a PSA ≥ 1.5 mg/dL. Clean intermittent catheterization is first-line therapy for neurogenic bladder but can increase risk of catheter-associated urinary tract infection. Clinicians should assess type of incontinence, patient goals, side effect profile, and tolerability to determine an individualized treatment plan for each patient.

Keywords

urinary incontinence incontinence stress urinary incontinence

Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Treatments for Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of Clinical Outcomes

Author/s:

Balk, E.M., Rofebero, V.N., Adam, G.P., Kimmel, H.J., Trikalinos, T.A., Jeppson, P.C.

BACKGROUND:

Urinary incontinence (UI), a common malady in women, most often is classified as stress, urgency, or mixed.

PURPOSE:

To compare the effectiveness of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions to improve or cure stress, urgency, or mixed UI in nonpregnant women.

DATA SOURCES:

MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Wiley), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Wiley), EMBASE (Elsevier), CINAHL (EBSCO), and PsycINFO (American Psychological Association) from inception through 10 August 2018.

STUDY SELECTION:

84 randomized trials that evaluated 14 categories of interventions and reported categorical cure or improvement outcomes.

DATA EXTRACTION:

1 researcher extracted study characteristics, results, and study-level risk of bias, with verification by another independent researcher. The research team collaborated to assess strength of evidence (SoE) across studies.

DATA SYNTHESIS:

84 studies reported cure or improvement outcomes (32 in stress UI, 16 in urgency UI, 4 in mixed UI, and 32 in any or unspecified UI type). The most commonly evaluated active intervention types included behavioral therapies, anticholinergics, and neuromodulation. Network meta-analysis showed that all interventions, except hormones and periurethral bulking agents (variable SoE), were more effective than no treatment in achieving at least 1 favorable UI outcome. Among treatments used specifically for stress UI, behavioral therapy was more effective than either α-agonists or hormones in achieving cure or improvement (moderate SoE); α-agonists were more effective than hormones in achieving improvement (moderate SoE); and neuromodulation was more effective than no treatment for cure, improvement, and satisfaction (high SoE). Among treatments used specifically for urgency UI, behavioral therapy was statistically significantly more effective than anticholinergics in achieving cure or improvement (high SoE), both neuromodulation and onabotulinum toxin A (BTX) were more effective than no treatment (high SoE), and BTX may have been more effective than neuromodulation in achieving cure (low SoE).

LIMITATION:

Scarce direct (head-to-head trial) evidence and population heterogeneity based on UI type, UI severity, and history of prior treatment.

CONCLUSION:

Most nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions are more likely than no treatment to improve UI outcomes. Behavioral therapy, alone or in combination with other interventions, is generally more effective than pharmacologic therapies alone in treating both stress and urgency UI.

Keywords

behavioral interventions incontinence