Tag Archive for: urinary incontinence

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Podcast: NICE Guidance on urinary incontinence in neurological disease

Part of the BURST/BJUI podcast series

Eunice Ter Zuling is a core surgical trainee in South Yorkshire, UK and BURST member. Here she discusses the NICE guidance on urinary incontinence in neurological disease, published in 2021 (https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg148). To contribute a podcast please go to bursturology.com/opportunities.

British Urology Researchers in Surgical Training (BURST) is a research collaborative primarily of urological researchers in the UK. Their aim is to produce high impact multi-centre audit and research which can improve patient care.

Video: Pitcher pot neourethral modification of ileal orthotopic neobladder

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Editorial: Guidelines on urinary incontinence: it is time to join forces!

Urinary incontinence is not life‐threatening and does not kill patients, but it is highly prevalent affecting millions of people worldwide, it significantly impairs quality of life, and the related health‐care costs are enormous. Thus, guidelines are crucial for helping us to achieve an optimal management of our patients with urinary incontinence.

In this month’s issue of the BJUI, Sussman et al. present a Guideline of Guidelines on urinary incontinence in women. They reviewed the guidelines of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) / American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS), American Urological Association (AUA) / Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU), European Association of Urology (EAU), International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI), and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The recommendations of the different guidelines were similar for the initial evaluation and conservative therapies but differed considerably in some points of invasive management. In brief, the most essential issues are the following: Basic work‐up includes detailed history taking and specifying the type of urinary incontinence, urodynamics is performed when it changes management and in cases of recurrent urinary incontinence after interventions, treatment follows a stepwise approach starting with conservative therapy and moving to invasive options as appropriate, and treatment of women with mixed urinary incontinence is focused on the predominant symptom.

Although the management of urinary incontinence is well defined and excellently summarised by Sussman et al., treatment often remains demanding in daily clinical practice due to insufficient effectiveness or relevant side effects, so that new therapeutic options are urgently needed. Vibegron is a novel β3‐adrenoreceptor agonist, and Yoshida et al. present in the current issue of the BJUI promising findings with this drug for treating severe urgency urinary incontinence related to overactive bladder. In a post hoc analysis of a randomised, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, comparative phase 3 study, vibegron significantly reduced the number of urgency urinary incontinence episodes and significantly increased voided volume per micturition with a response rate exceeding 50% [Yoshida et al]. These results are encouraging and warrant further randomised controlled trials, but also vibegron seems not to be a miracle agent showing effects in the range of mirabegron or antimuscarinics. However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel: Closed‐loop optogenetic neuromodulation systems targeting specific neurons to control urinary tract function might completely revolutionise the field, although there are still relevant hurdles to overcome.

Guidelines should result from a rigorous and transparent process informed by the best available up‐to‐date evidence and safeguarded against biases and conflict of interests. This is a major challenge, and from a bird’s eye view, it is hard to comprehend that several guidelines on the same topic exist and it is even more difficult to understand that the recommendations of these guidelines are not congruent and sometimes even contradictory. For instance, in the case of a pelvic organ prolapse repair in a continent woman, the ACOG / AUGS, AUA / SUFU, and EAU guidelines discuss prophylactic anti‐incontinence surgery as an option, whereas ICI and NICE guidelines explicitly recommend against it. The redundancy is enormous, but societies and organisations still create their own guidelines – an unnecessary waste of resources. In recent times, the coronavirus pandemic has rapidly changed our life and paralysed our usual activities, we have to stand together, it is definitively time to join forces! The relevant societies and organisations should consult each other and coordinate their efforts. Together we are strong, let’s move forward to joint guidelines!

Article of the Month – Guidelines of the Guidelines: Urinary Incontinence in Women

Every month, the Editor-in-Chief selects an Article of the Month from the current issue of BJUI. The abstract is reproduced below and you can click on the button to read the full article, which is freely available to all readers for at least 30 days from the time of this post.

In addition to the article itself, there is an editorial prepared by a prominent member of the urological community and a video by the authors; we invite you to use the comment tools at the bottom of each post to join the conversation. 

If you only have time to read one article this month, we recommend this one. 

Guidelines of the Guidelines: Urinary Incontinence in Women

Rachael D. Sussman*, Raveen Syan and Benjamin M. Brucker
*Department of Urology, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, Department of Urology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, and Department of Urology, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

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Introduction

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common disease, with prevalence rates as high as 44–57% in middle‐aged and post‐menopausal women. Those with UI may experience physical, functional, and psychological limitations and diminished quality of life (QoL) at home and at work. The financial burden of UI care is significant, with an estimated direct cost of $19.5 billion (American dollars) in the USA alone.

UI can be classified into a number of different categories, with stress UI (SUI) and urgency UI (UUI) being the most common. Many professional organisations have created guidelines to help clinicians navigate the diagnosis and evaluation of UI, as well as the treatments including conservative, pharmacological, and surgical. The methodologies upon which most guidelines are based are similar, starting with systematic reviews and grading of available literature. Organisations then make recommendations with different definitions and strengths. Guidelines are not exhaustive, but rather serve as a practical review of evidence‐based management of ‘index patients’.

The present ‘Guideline of guidelines,’ updated from a 2016 publication, reviews various international guidelines that have been updated at different time intervals and provides an updated summary of the important similarities and differences on the management of UI in women.

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Video – Guidelines of the Guidelines: Urinary Incontinence in Women

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Article of the week: Cluster analysis of multiple chronic conditions associated with urinary incontinence among women in the USA

Every week, the Editor-in-Chief selects an Article of the Week from the current issue of BJUI. The abstract is reproduced below and you can click on the button to read the full article, which is freely available to all readers for at least 30 days from the time of this post.

In addition to the article itself, there is an accompanying editorial written by a prominent member of the urological community. These are intended to provoke comment and discussion and we invite you to use the comment tools at the bottom of each post to join the conversation. There is also a new residents’ podcast focussing on this article. 

If you only have time to read one article this week, it should be this one.

Cluster analysis of multiple chronic conditions associated with urinary incontinence among women in the USA

Alayne D. Markland*, Camille P. Vaughan§, Ike S. Okosun, Patricia S. Goode*, Kathryn L. Burgio*and Theodore M. Johnson II§

 

*Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, University of Alabama-Birmingham UAB School of Medicine, Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, §Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

 

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Abstract

Objective

To identify patterns of prevalent chronic medical conditions among women with urinary incontinence (UI).

Materials and Methods

We combined cross‐sectional data from the 2005–2006 to 2011–2012 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, and identified 3 800 women with UI and data on 12 chronic conditions. Types of UI included stress UI (SUI), urgency UI (UUI), and mixed stress and urgency UI (MUI). We categorized UI as mild, moderate or severe using validated measures. We performed a two‐step cluster analysis to identify patterns between clusters for UI type and severity. We explored associations between clusters by UI subtype and severity, controlling for age, education, race/ethnicity, parity, hysterectomy status and adiposity in weighted regression analyses.

Results

Eleven percent of women with UI had no chronic conditions. Among women with UI who had at least one additional condition, four distinct clusters were identified: (i) cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk‐younger; (ii) asthma‐predominant; (iii) CVD risk‐older; and (iv) multiple chronic conditions (MCC). In comparison to women with UI and no chronic diseases, women in the CVD risk‐younger (age 46.7 ± 15.8 years) cluster reported the highest rate of SUI and mild UI severity. In the asthma‐predominant cluster (age 51.5 ± 10.2 years), women had more SUI and MUI and more moderate UI severity. Women in the CVD risk‐older cluster (age 57.9 ± 13.4 years) had the highest rate of UUI, along with more severe UI. Women in the MCC cluster (age 61.0 ± 14.8 years) had the highest rates of MUI and the highest rate of moderate/severe UI.

Conclusions

Women with UI rarely have no additional chronic conditions. Four patterns of chronic conditions emerged with differences by UI type and severity. Identification of women with mild UI and modifiable conditions may inform future prevention efforts.

 

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Editorial: Urinary incontinence and the causality dilemma

Fundamentally, the aetiology of most female urinary incontinence (UI) remains an enigma. Although we gain comfort in our conceptualisations of anatomical defects and neurological compromise as contributing factors, most of our therapies for UI are directed at symptomatic control instead of a disease prevention or modification. Thus, the principal drivers of female UI symptoms remain elusive. The premise of the series published in this issue by Markland et al. [1], to identify patterns of comorbid conditions in patients with various types of UI, is a valid and intriguing question, and this effort provides an important component of emerging concepts of the pathophysiology of UI development in women. The authors describe the analysis of cross‐sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and report on 3800 women with UI. Exploration of associations between UI with patient demographics and medical conditions revealed fascinating relationships and not surprisingly, a high prevalence of comorbid conditions in patients with self‐reported UI. Thus, despite the known limitations of such a cross‐sectional analysis, this study by Markland et al. [1] provides provocative information to achieve actionable mandates.

The novel approach described in the article of developing cluster analysis revealed four distinct patterns between UI and multiple chronic conditions. One of the most dominant relationships that merits intense exploration is the relationship between common conditions of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Indeed, CVD remains a leading cause of death in women in the USA [2]. Population‐based analysis has hinted at possible connections between CVD and UI, although determinative causality has not been established [3, 4]. UI in women may reflect a similar vascular pathology to erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, potentially resultant from a gradual compromise of the delicate neurovascular anatomy required for normal sphincter and detrusor activity. In women, no such prodromal syndrome or symptom such as ED in men has been acknowledged to prompt CVD screening in otherwise asymptomatic patients.

Alternately, one might interpret this cluster data to indicate that multimorbid chronic conditions and increasing age are sufficient in the development of UI, although assigning such risk silos is disposed to misconceptions. The contribution of polypharmacy in these clusters is a decidedly substantial component for careful consideration. However, data extracted from such survey sampling have inherent complexities that limit defining causality, so how do we retrospectively discern understanding viewing the insults of a lifetime resulting in UI? The short answer is, we do not.

We must extract ourselves from the realm of symptom suppression for women with UI and direct resources to a broader view of the life course of the condition. In addition to the expansive phenotyping efforts ongoing from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Disease (NIDDK) through the Symptoms of Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Research Network (LURN), no initiative speaks to the endeavor to principally change paradigms about bladder health in women more than the pioneering concept of The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium [5]. The PLUS consortium is dedicated to promoting prevention of LUTS across the woman’s life spectrum, which roots in the appreciation of progression of factors contributing to disease. Without this critical transdisciplinary approach, comprehension of the base aetiology of UI, and our continued attempts to mask symptoms, may propagate further deterioration of systemic manifestations of primary high‐risk diseases in our patients.

References

  1. Markland AD, Vaughn CP, Okosun IS, Goode PS, Burgio KL, Johnson TM, 2nd. Cluster analysis of multiple chronic conditions associated with urinary incontinence among women in the USA. BJU Int 2018; 122: 1041–8
  2. National Institutes of Health and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Morbidity & Mortality: 2009 Chart Book on Cardiovascular, Lung, and Blood Diseases. Available at: https://ecopmc.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/2009_chartbook.pdf. Accessed July 2018
  3. Coyne KS, Kaplan SA, Chapple CR et al. Risk factors and comorbid conditions associated with lower urinary tract symptoms: EpiLUTS. BJU Int 2009; 103 (Suppl. 3): 24–32
  4. Andersson KE, Sarawate C, Kahler KH, Stanley EL, Kulkarni AS. Cardiovascular morbidity, heart rates and use of antimuscarinics in patients with overactive bladder. BJU Int 2010; 106: 268–74
  5. Harlow BL, Bavendam TG, Palmer MH et al. The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) research consortium: a transdiciplinary approach toward promoting bladder health and preventing lower urinary tract symptoms in women across the life course. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2018; 27: 283–9

 

 

Residents’ podcast: Cluster analysis of multiple chronic conditions associated with urinary incontinence among women in the USA

Giulia Lane M.D. and Iryna Crescenze M.D. are Fellows in Neuro-urology and Pelvic Reconstruction in the Department of Urology at the University of Michigan.

In this podcast they discuss the following BJUI Article of the Week:

Cluster analysis of multiple chronic conditions associated with urinary incontinence among women in the USA

Abstract

Objective

To identify patterns of prevalent chronic medical conditions among women with urinary incontinence (UI).

Materials and Methods

We combined cross‐sectional data from the 2005–2006 to 2011–2012 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, and identified 3 800 women with UI and data on 12 chronic conditions. Types of UI included stress UI (SUI), urgency UI (UUI), and mixed stress and urgency UI (MUI). We categorized UI as mild, moderate or severe using validated measures. We performed a two‐step cluster analysis to identify patterns between clusters for UI type and severity. We explored associations between clusters by UI subtype and severity, controlling for age, education, race/ethnicity, parity, hysterectomy status and adiposity in weighted regression analyses.

Results

Eleven percent of women with UI had no chronic conditions. Among women with UI who had at least one additional condition, four distinct clusters were identified: (i) cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk‐younger; (ii) asthma‐predominant; (iii) CVD risk‐older; and (iv) multiple chronic conditions (MCC). In comparison to women with UI and no chronic diseases, women in the CVD risk‐younger (age 46.7 ± 15.8 years) cluster reported the highest rate of SUI and mild UI severity. In the asthma‐predominant cluster (age 51.5 ± 10.2 years), women had more SUI and MUI and more moderate UI severity. Women in the CVD risk‐older cluster (age 57.9 ± 13.4 years) had the highest rate of UUI, along with more severe UI. Women in the MCC cluster (age 61.0 ± 14.8 years) had the highest rates of MUI and the highest rate of moderate/severe UI.

Conclusions

Women with UI rarely have no additional chronic conditions. Four patterns of chronic conditions emerged with differences by UI type and severity. Identification of women with mild UI and modifiable conditions may inform future prevention efforts.

Read the full article

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Residents’ podcast: Urinary continence recovery after radical prostatectomy

Maria Uloko is a Urology Resident at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Giulia Lane is a Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellow at the University of Michigan.

In this podcast they discuss the BJUI Article of the Week ‘Investigating the mechanism underlying urinary continence recovery after radical prostatectomy: effectiveness of a longer urethral stump to prevent urinary incontinence‘.

 

Investigating the mechanism underlying urinary continence recovery after radical prostatectomy: effectiveness of a longer urethral stump to prevent urinary incontinence

 

Yoshifumi Kadono*, Takahiro Nohara*, Shohei Kawaguchi*, Renato Naito*, Satoko Urata*, Kazufumi Nakashima*, Masashi Iijima*, Kazuyoshi Shigehara*, Kouji Izumi*, Toshifumi Gabata† and Atsushi Mizokami*

*Department of Integrative Cancer Therapy and Urology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Japan; †Department of Radiology, Kanazawa University School of Medicine, 13‐1 Takara‐machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920‐8640, Japan

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the chronological changes in urinary incontinence and urethral function before and after radical prostatectomy (RP), and to compare the findings of pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and after RP to evaluate the anatomical changes.

Patients and Methods

In total, 185 patients were evaluated with regard to the position of the distal end of the membranous urethra (DMU) on a mid‐sagittal MRI slice and urethral sphincter function using the urethral pressure profilometry. The patients also underwent an abdominal leak point pressure test before RP and at 10 days and 12 months after RP. The results were then compared with the chronological changes in urinary incontinence.

Fig. 1 Intraoperative view of the apex of the prostate transection line between the urethra and prostate at the normal (straight line) and long urethral stump (dashed line) positions.

Results

The MRI results showed that the DMU shifted proximally to an average distance of 4 mm at 10 days after RP and returned to the preoperative position at 12 months after RP. Urethral sphincter function also worsened 10 days after RP, with recovery after 12 months. The residual length of the urethral stump and urinary incontinence were significantly associated with the migration length of the DMU at 10 days after RP. The residual length of the urethral stump was a significant predictor of urinary incontinence after RP.

Conclusion

This is the first study to elucidate that the slight vertical repositioning of the membranous urethra after RP causes chronological changes in urinary incontinence. A long urethral residual stump reduces urinary incontinence after RP.

 

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Editorial: Towards an individualized approach for predicting post‐prostatectomy urinary incontinence: the role of nerve preservation and urethral stump length

Traditionally, MRI of the prostate has been mainly applied in the diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer. Kadono et al. [1] used pre‐ and postoperative pelvic MRI to assess the repositioning of the urethra 10 days and 12 months after prostatectomy, hypothesizing that these alterations could correlate with urinary incontinence and urethral function. Recent MRI measurements of anatomical structures of the pelvic floor, such as membranous urethral length and inner levator distance, were found to be independent predictors of early continence recovery at 12 months after prostatectomy [2] A meta‐analysis has also shown a strong correlation between membranous urethral length and continence recovery at 3‐, 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐up [3] Kadono et al. [1] add another metric to the pelvic floor dimensions that may help predict continence. Cranial migration of the lower end of the membranous urethra early after prostatectomy was associated with urinary incontinence and urinary sphincter function, as objectively assessed by urethral pressure profile. Interestingly, return of the membranous urethra to the more distal preoperative position after 12 months was associated with improvement in continence. In a multivariate model, urethral stump length was a strong predictor of continence outcome at 10 days as well as 12 months after prostatectomy. This observation suggests that urethral length may partly improve post-prostatectomy continence through better compression of the membranous urethra in the pelvic floor membrane rather than through transfer of the intra‐abdominal pressure onto the intra‐abdominally located urethra. If confirmed, this observation may imply that more cranial fixation of the bladder neck in a more intra‐abdominal position may not necessarily improve continence after prostatectomy, in line with data from randomized controlled studies comparing median fibrous raphe reconstruction with standard anastomosis that failed to show a benefit [4,5].

Besides anatomical location, innervation of the proximal urethra is important for post-prostatectomy continence [6]. Kadono et al. found that nerve preservation was an independent predictor of early and long‐term continence outcome, with a b value similar to that of urethral stump length at 12‐month follow‐up. To improve post-prostatectomy continence outcome, proper patient selection seems crucial. In the era of personalized medicine, MRI could be a valuable tool to assess preoperatively the risks of postoperative urinary incontinence and counsel patients accordingly. Avoiding prostatectomy in men with short preoperative membranous urethral length may be an important approach for improving outcome, in particular in light of the fact that many attempts to surgically correct anatomical alignment of the pelvic floor have not clearly improved continence outcome. If surgery is considered, nerve preservation should be performed where possible to improve continence.

Henk G. van der Poel and Nikos Grivas

Department of Urology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

References

  1. Kadono Y, Nohara T, Kawaguchi S et al. Investigating the mechanism underlying urinary continence recovery after radical prostatectomy: effectiveness of a longer urethral stump to prevent urinary incontinence. BJU Int 2018. 37: 463–9
  2. Grivas N, van der Roest R, Schouten D et al. Quantitative assessment of fascia preservation improves the prediction of membranous urethral length and inner levator distance on continence outcome after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Neurourol Urodyn 2018; 37: 417–25
  3. Mungovan SF, Sandhu JS , Akin O, Smart NA, Graham PL, Patel MI. Preoperative membranous urethral length measurement and continence recovery  following radical prostatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Urol 2017; 71: 368–78
  4. Joshi N, de Blok W, van Muilekom E, van der Poel H. Impact of posterior musculofascial reconstruction on early continence after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: results of a prospective parallel group trial. Eur Urol 2010; 58: 84–9
  5. Menon M, Muhletaler F, Campos M, Peabody JO. Assessment of early continence after reconstruction of the periprostatic tissues in patients undergoing computer assisted (robotic) prostatectomy: results of a 2 group parallel randomized controlled trial. J Urol 2008; 180: 1018–23
  6. van der Poel HG, de Blok W, Joshi N, van Muilekom E. Preservation of lateral prostatic fascia is associated with urine continence after robotic-assisted prostatectomy. Eur Urol 2009; 55: 892–900Dearnaley DP, Jovic G, Syndikus I et al. The. Lancet Oncol 2014; 15:464–73

 

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