An Introduction to Urinary Incontinence.

Cover Story:
BioStim™ for Pelvic Floor Strengthening'
Dorothy Stevens RN. RM. Continence Consultant & Practitioner.

Therapy Closeup:
Pelvic Floor Strengthening

Bits n' Pieces:
Bio Notes:
Dorothy Stevens

User Profiles:
Those with incontinence tell their stories.

The Fact Files:
Scientific research in support of Electrical Stimulation for urinary incontinence.

Intravaginal maximal electrical stimulation in the treatment of urinary incontinence.

J Reprod Med 1993 Sep;38(9):667-71

Caputo RM, Benson JT, McClellan E

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Inc., Indianapolis 46202.

Urinary incontinence imposes a large economic burden, estimated at $10 billion per year. As the cost of health care continues to rise, conservative therapeutic measures are becoming more attractive.

Anecdotal reports suggest that electrical stimulation may be up to 87% effective in the treatment of urinary incontinence. Investigators use different stimulation devices and protocols and make a comparison of results difficult.

The true efficacy of electrical stimulation for the treatment of urinary incontinence is unknown since there have been no controlled clinical trials. Within our referral-based urogynecology practice, we employ intermittent, intravaginal maximal electrical stimulation in conjunction with bladder drills and pelvic floor exercises.

Over a one-year period we treated 76 women with urinary incontinence: 19 with stress incontinence (SUI), 30 with detrusor instability (DI) and 27 with mixed incontinence (MI).

After six weeks, our overall objective improvement rate was 76%; 89% of patients with SUI, 73% with DI and 70% with MI met the criteria for improvement. Long-term follow-up averaged 6 months, with a range of 2-12.

Of patients who showed an initial objective improvement, 87% maintained that improvement. Intravaginal electrical stimulation may be effective therapy for urinary incontinence. Controlled clinical trials are needed to determine its efficacy and standardize stimulation protocols before its widespread use.

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