Psychosomatische Aspekte in der Urogynäkologie

A case report of a 46-year-old female patient with functional urinary incontinence serves to illustrate the influence of psychodynamic factors on the etiopathogenesis of this urogynecological disorder. The problems involved in the staging system devised by the International Continence Society to distinguish between stress incontinence and urge incontinence are discussed from a psychosomatic point of view and in addition differential diagnostic aspects (enuresis and female ejaculation) are considered. Furthermore, the clinical picture and pathogenesis of other psychosomatic urogynecological diseases are described, namely, in the order of decreasing involvement of psychosomatic causes: irritable bladder, chronic bladder inflammation, urinary retention, and interstitial cystitis. In conclusion, possible therapeutic measures are presented.     

Sexuality and urinary incontinence

In an attempt to investigate correlations between sexuality and urinary incontinence (UI), fifty-one women with stress incontinence (18), urge incontinence (12), or combined stress/urge incontinence (21) were interviewed on their sexual behaviours, prior to and after development of UI. The results were compared with data on the average female population in the GDR. Women with subsequent UI were found to have perceived cohabitarche as extremely beautiful or disgusting or anorgastic with significantly higher frequency, as compared to the general female population. The average number of sexual partners and frequency of cohabitations had been higher with women in whom UI was to develop later on. Their sexual behaviours did not come closer to those of the general female population until UI was growing manifest. While marital problems were quoted as causes of UI by 39 per cent of the interviewers, only 14 per cent gave a negative assessment of their present partnerships. Reduced sexual relationships were often (47 per cent) offset by vicarious sexual activities. These women were more often than others suspected of trying to find a pretext for evading sexual intercourse on grounds of marital problems. Yet, one third of women with UI said that during orgasm they would strongly press downward, which might result in additional strain on the pelvic floor. In other words, sexual disorders and UI appeared to favour each other. Hence, psychosomatic and sexological investigations on interhuman relations should be adopted as part of comprehensive therapeutic planning to cope with urinary incontinence.     

A glance at the urodynamic database

Three hundred sixty-four patients with urinary incontinence as their presenting complaint were evaluated in the urogynecology laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. Of them, 226 (62%) were found to have genuine stress urinary incontinence (GSI). This subset of demonstrably incontinent patients was characterized as to symptoms of stress and urge incontinence, incidence of nulliparity, occurrence of incontinence during intercourse and influence of weight on bladder pressure. Using clusters of symptoms did not accurately distinguish GSI from the other types of urinary incontinence. Four percent of the GSI patients were nulliparous. All had a reasonable explanation for incontinence other than anatomic relaxation. Twenty-three percent of the 154 sexually active GSI patients acknowledged having incontinence with intercourse. None of the anatomic and urodynamic parameters evaluated distinguished that group from their GSI counterparts who did not lose urine with intercourse. Increasing weight, expressed as the body mass index, correlated with an increase in the vesical pressure in the supine and standing positions.     

Sexuality in German urogynecological patients and healthy controls: is there a difference with respect to the diagnosis?

Objective

To evaluate sexual function among German urogynecological patients compared to a control group without urogynecological symptoms, using the validated German version of the Australian pelvic floor questionnaire.

Study design

Retrospective study including 313 women divided into five subgroups: women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), overactive bladder (OAB), mixed incontinence (MI), pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and healthy controls. The self-administered questionnaire is divided into three domains: bladder, pelvic organ prolapse, and sexual function. It also includes severity, bothersomeness and condition-specific quality of life. Only completely filled out questionnaires were included. The Mann–Whitney U-test was used as a non-parametric test to calculate significances for ordinal data. A p-value <.05 was taken as significant.

Results

16/59 (27.1%) women in the control group were not sexually active compared to 19/60 (31.7%) in the SUI group, 51/98 (52.0%) in the mixed-incontinence group, 19/43 (44.2%) in the OAB group, and 24/53 (45.3%) in the prolapse group. Coital incontinence was present significantly more often in women with SUI (15/41, 36.6%) or mixed incontinence (20/44, 45.5%) than among the controls (1/49, 2.1%). Hence, concerning sexuality, women with urogynecological symptoms were all significantly more affected than the healthy controls.

Conclusion

The German version of the Australian pelvic floor questionnaire is a feasible tool to evaluate not only symptoms of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse but also sexual dysfunction. A substantial proportion of our urogynecological patients suffer immensely from problems with their sexuality, and it is therefore our responsibility as physicians to provide assistance and improve our education in this field.     

Sexual function in women before and after suburethral sling operation for stress urinary incontinence: a retrospective questionnaire study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this questionnaire study dealing with women with stress urinary incontinence was to find out what influence incontinence and operation for incontinence in the form of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) or intravaginal slingplasty operation (IVS) had on the patient's sexuality and if there were any adverse effects on sexuality after the operation. METHODS: Eighty-four patients were operated on from April 1998 to September 2002. A questionnaire was sent to all patients with questions concerning their sexuality before and after the operation. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients (81%) answered the questionnaire. Before the operation 53 patients (79%) were sexually active and 26 patients (49%) experienced incontinence during intercourse. Only one patient (0.01%) stated the incontinence as the reason for not being sexually active. No patients developed de novo incontinence during intercourse after the operation. Half of the patients who were cured of their incontinence during intercourse experienced a better sexual life. Five patients (7%) cited reduced libido after the operation and two patients (3%) felt the operation to be the cause. CONCLUSION: Among sexually active women with stress urinary incontinence referred for suburethral sling operation 49% experienced incontinence during intercourse and half of the cured patients in this group experienced a better sexual life after the operation. Incontinence affects sexual life to a great extend. Two patients (4%) experienced less libido after the operation and found the operation to be the cause of this. The risk of deterioration of sexual life after the operation is very small. Further investigation into this subject is needed.     

The prevalence of enduring postnatal perineal morbidity and its relationship to perineal trauma

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the prevalence of enduring postnatal perineal morbidity and its relationship to perineal trauma. DESIGN: a retrospective cross-sectional community survey of postnatal women. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: a total population sample of 2100 women were surveyed from two maternity units within Birmingham. Women were identified from the Trust's computerised Maternity Information System (MIS). METHODS: Women were surveyed using a self-administered postal questionnaire 12 months after birth. The questionnaire included self-assessment of perineal pain, perineal healing, urinary incontinence, flatus incontinence, faecal incontinence, sexual morbidity and dyspareunia. FINDINGS: a response rate of 23.3% was achieved (n=482). A high level of perineal morbidity was reported (53.8% stress urinary incontinence, 36.6% urge urinary incontinence, 9.9% liquid faecal incontinence, 54.5% with at least one index of sexual morbidity). Women with perineal trauma reported significantly more morbidity (sexual morbidity, dyspareunia, stress and urge urinary incontinence) than women with an intact perineum. Women with perineal trauma also resumed sexual intercourse later than women with an intact perineum. Women with a first- or second-degree tear reported significantly more perineal morbidity (stress incontinence, sexual morbidity) than women with an intact perineum, and resumed sexual intercourse later. However, a high percentage of women with an intact perineum also reported new-onset perineal morbidity: stress urinary incontinence (34.8%); urge urinary incontinence (19.5%); flatus incontinence (13.8%); and dyspareunia (25.3%), highlighting that enduring perineal morbidity can occur irrespective of perineal trauma. CONCLUSION: enduring postnatal perineal morbidity is common in women with all types and grades of perineal trauma and intact perineum after childbirth. This highlights the need for further debate and research into the prevalence and experience of postnatal morbidity.     

Psychodiagnostic examination of patients with functional urinary incontinence (author's transl)

Psychometric personality questionnaires were used to test 100 patients with symptoms of urinary incontinence. The following findings were recorded: Accumulation with significance of increased psychasthenic values in patients with normal urogynaecological status was higher than that recordable from patients in pathological conditions. The group of patients with mere stress incontinence differed from the group with urge or combined urge-stress incontinence by statistically secured differentiated between means values recordable from neurosis-relevant, test scales, including psychosomatic disorders, depression, neuroticism, social introversion, and phobic disorders. Reference is made to psychogenic factors and their role within a set of multifactorial conditions conducive to functional urinary incontinence of women. Consequences regarding diagnosis and therapy are discussed.     

Incontinence history as a predictor of detrusor stability

Between January 1983 and July 1985, 218 women underwent preliminary evaluation and urodynamic testing in our laboratory. Their symptoms and urodynamic diagnoses were compared to evaluate the ability of a patient's history to predict the stability of the detrusor. The symptom of stress incontinence was a sensitive detector of genuine stress incontinence (100% sensitivity) but was not very specific (65.2%). The symptoms of urgency and urge incontinence were found to have limited sensitivity (77.9%) and specificity (38.7%) in the detection of detrusor instability. Even patients with isolated complaints of stress incontinence had an incidence of detrusor instability of 34.9%, whereas 76.9% of those with a history of isolated urgency and urge incontinence had detrusor instability. Three percent of patients complaining of either type of incontinence had no objective evidence of incontinence on urodynamic investigation. The results of this study demonstrate that a patient's history is a poor predictor of the underlying cause of incontinence.     

Sexual Disorders in Women with Overactive Bladder and Urinary Stress Incontinence Compared to Controls: A Prospective Study

Introduction and Hypothesis Female urinary incontinence (UI) has a negative impact on sexual function and sexual quality of life (QoL) in women. But there is still no consensus on the type of UI or the prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD). The aim of the study was to evaluate sexual disorders in women with overactive bladder (OAB) compared to patients with urinary stress incontinence (SUI) and healthy controls. Materials and Methods 106 women presenting to a urogynecological outpatient clinic (referral clinic) were investigated using standardized questionnaires and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI-d). All 65 incontinent women underwent a full urodynamic examination; the controls (31) were non-incontinent women in the same age range who came for routine check-ups or minor disorders not involving micturition or pelvic floor function. Women with mixed urinary incontinence, a history of previous medical or surgical treatment for UI, recurrent urinary tract infections, previous radiation therapy or pelvic organ prolapse of more than stage 2 on the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) system were excluded. Results 100 questionnaires could be evaluated (94.3%). Thirty-four women had urinary stress incontinence, 35 had OAB, 31 were controls. Mean age was 56 years, with no significant differences between groups. The scores of the questionnaire ranged from 2 to 35.1 points. The median score of OAB patients was significantly lower (17.6) than the median score of the controls (26.5; p = 0,004). The stress-incontinent women had a score of 21.95, which was lower than that of the controls but statistically non-significant (p = 0.051). In all subdomains, the OAB patients had lower scores than the stress-incontinent women and significantly lower values than the control group. Most striking was the impairment of “sexual interest in the last 4 weeks”. The figure for “none or almost no sexual activity” was 80% for the OAB group, 64.7% for the group of stress-incontinent women and 48% for the control group. Incontinence during intercourse was reported by one OAB patient and 4 stress-incontinent women but did not occur in the control group. Conclusions There is a high prevalence of SD in women with urinary incontinence. Patients with OAB reported a greater negative impact on sexual function and had significantly lower scores for the FSFI questionnaire than patients with stress incontinence or controls. Key words: overactive bladder, sexual disorder, coital incontinence, stress urinary incontinence, quality of life     

Usefulness of urodynamic investigations in female incontinence.

Urinary incontinence in females has been evaluated in a prospective series of 408 patients by comparing the clinical diagnosis and the subsequent urodynamic findings. The presenting symptoms or combination of symptoms were shown to have only a limited diagnostic predictive value as measured by urodynamic diagnostic criteria. The symptom of stress incontinence was a sensitive detector of genuine stress incontinence (94% sensitivity) but was not very specific (65%). The symptoms of urgency and urge incontinence were found to have limited sensitivity (62%) and specificity (47%) in the detection of detrusor instability. Even patients with isolated complaints of stress incontinence have an incidence of detrusor instability of 52%, whereas 76% of those with a history of isolated urgency and urge incontinence had detrusor instability. An urodynamic evaluation should be performed on most female patients suffering from urinary incontinence and is essential for patients who are being considered for surgery of stress incontinence.     

Urinary leakage during coitus in women.

During a 4-year period from 1993 to 1997, a total of 2153 women were referred to our urogynaecology clinic complaining of urinary incontinence. Of these women, 228 (10.6%) admitted to coital incontinence. Only 22 of these 228 women complained of this symptom without direct questioning. Urine loss occurred during penetration in 158 women, during orgasm in 45 women and during both in 25 women. Comparison of these groups showed few other differences in their presenting symptoms, examination findings, urodynamic data or diagnosis. Genuine stress incontinence was present in 79.8% of women with urinary leakage during penetration, in 93.2% with leak on orgasm and in 92.0% who leaked on both. Detrusor instability was uncommon. In most women who complain of urinary leakage during sexual intercourse, the underlying pathophysiological mechanism is urethral sphincter incompetence. Compared with women presenting with urinary incontinence in the absence of coital incontinence, women with coital leakage had a higher incidence of stress and urge incontinence, and a significantly greater incidence of anterior vaginal wall prolapse and demonstrable stress incontinence on examination.     

Urodynamic results of Burch colposuspension

Between 1984 and 1987 31 patients underwent a colposuspension according to Burch for stress urinary incontinence. Seventeen women were available for clinical and urodynamic follow-up after an average of 17.6 months. Clinically, 2 women had postoperative stress-urge incontinence and 2 had stress incontinence only. 13 (77%) patients were continent while straining, 9 (53%) patients complained of urge and voiding disorders, 7 reported post micturition dribble, 2 patients lost urine during intercourse. Urodynamically, 14 (82%) patients were continent during straining, 3 showed mild stress incontinence. The functional urethra length and urethral closure pressure at rest were unchanged. The urethral pressure under stress, depression quotient, and transmission factor increased significantly. The average uroflow sank from 16.8 ml/s to 7.8 ml/s, reflecting the subjective voiding disorders. Bladder compliance was unchanged. We saw no autonomous detrusor contractions and thus no correlation with subjective urge complaints.     

Burch colposuspension for the treatment of coital urinary leakage secondary to genuine stress incontinence.

The efficacy of Burch colposuspension in treating the symptom of coital urinary leakage in women with genuine stress incontinence has to date never been reported. Women who presented to our clinic with regular coital urinary leakage and urodynamically proven genuine stress incontinence between 1993 and 1997, and who proceeded to a Burch colposuspension procedure, were reviewed to determine the outcome of surgery. Fifty-five women were identified (mean age 46.1 years) with a mean follow-up interval after surgery of 18 months (range 3-42 months). All 55 women had symptoms of stress, urge and coital incontinence preoperatively. Following colposuspension, the subjective cure rates for stress and urge incontinence were 84% and 85%, respectively. Of 52 women that were sexually active after surgery, 81% described no further coital incontinence. The success or failure of surgery was not influenced by whether leakage occurred with penetration or orgasm preoperatively.     

Prevalence of persistent and de novo overactive bladder symptoms after the tension-free vaginal tape

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess 1) the proportion of de novo urge incontinence and overactive bladder symptoms after a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), and 2) the natural history of preoperative urge incontinence and overactive bladder symptoms after a TVT. METHODS: A chart review was performed on all patients who underwent a TVT without concomitant procedures from November 1998 to November 2002. Preoperative and postoperative stress and mixed urinary incontinence symptoms as well as overactive bladder symptoms were assessed subjectively, as was the use of anticholinergics to treat overactive bladder symptoms. Two preoperative and postoperative validated quality-of-life questionnaires, the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ-7) and Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI-6), were also compared. RESULTS: Ninety-eight patients were included in the study. Postoperatively, de novo urge incontinence symptoms developed in 9.1%, de novo overactive bladder symptoms developed in 4.3%, and 8.7% started taking anticholinergics for the first time. After a TVT, the urge component resolved in 63.1% of those with preoperative symptoms of mixed incontinence, overactive bladder symptoms resolved in 57.3% of those with preoperative overactive bladder symptoms, and 57.7% of those who used anticholinergics preoperatively no longer needed to do so. There was also a statistically significant improvement in comparing the preoperative and postoperative IIQ-7 and UDI-6 scores. CONCLUSION: The proportion of patients in whom de novo overactive bladder or urge incontinence symptoms developed postoperatively is low, and approximately 57% of patients with preoperative overactive bladder symptoms can expect resolution of these symptoms after a TVT.     

Urinary incontinence in pregnancy and in puerperium: 3 months follow-up after delivery

AIM: The aim of this clinic prospective study was to point out the predisposing risk factors for the development of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and postpartum and to understand how to prevent the symptomatology. METHODS: Sixty seven primipara women at 32 weeks of pregnancy and 3 months after the delivery, were studied through an urogynecological work-up and a questionnaire on the main urinary symptoms. RESULTS: At 32 weeks of pregnancy, 27 patients (40.29%) were affected by stress urinary incontinence (SUI) of type I and 22 (32.83%) by urge incontinence. Three months after delivery, it was observed SUI of type I in 8 patients (15.68%), SUI of type II in 9 patients (17.64%), SUI of type II and II degree cystouretrocele in 3 patients (5.8%) and urge incontinence in 14 patients (27.45%). The most frequent risk factors that were tracked down were: a vaginal delivery, with a prolonged labour, and the episiotomy. We didn't find either substantial changes in the weight between patients continent and incontinent or correlations with the patients' age or with the weight of the foetus and the symptomatology reported. CONCLUSION: It is important to understand the beginning of the urinary symptoms in the pregnant women, to prevent the worsening of it. It is required, however, a long term follow-up on our patients to verify if the urinary incontinence persists or disappears by the time is needed.     

Urinary incontinence and genital prolapse in the female: clinical, urodynamic and radiological examinations

Summary. Clinical examination, cystometry, combined pressure–flow studies and colpocysto-urethrography were used to investigate 369 consecutive patients referred with symptoms of genital prolapse or urinary incontinence. The incidence of urinary incontinence in women seeking hospital investigation and therapy was 240/100000 women per year. Three hundred and three complained of urinary incontinence, 21% of these had urge incontinence, 36% both urge and stress incontinence and 43% stress incontinence. There was no correlation between previous obstetric history and present symptoms, the severity and objective signs of incontinence or the urodynamic findings. Correlation was found between urge incontinence and the cystometric finding of overactive detrusor function. Stress incontinence as a symptom was well correlated with low-pressure micturition. Pelvic examination did not differentiate between patients with different types of urinary incontinence. Cystometry was essential for the investigation of vesical dysfunction. Urodynamic studies and colpocysto-urethrography were useful in the diagnosis of outlet disorders and suspension defects.     

Stress incontinence in women. A practical method of evaluation

Stress incontinence in women may have many etiologies, of which the two primary ones are detrusor overactivity (urge incontinence), which is treated medically, and anatomic (pure) stress incontinence, which is treated surgically. At the Ben Taub Gynecologic Urology Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, 307 women were studied. Evaluations included history and physical examination, Q-tip test, catheterization for culture and residual volume, and CO2 gas urethroscopy with single-channel cystometrics. Twenty-nine percent of the patients were found to have pure anatomic stress incontinence, 33% to have urge incontinence and 38% to have combined urge and anatomic stress incontinence; 57% had irritative symptoms regardless of the etiologies. Cystocele was present in 92% of stress, 49% of urge and 83% of combined cases. Patients with anatomic stress incontinence tended to have larger cystoceles and greater Q-tip angles; however, a significant percentage of patients with urge incontinence also had cystoceles and abnormal Q-tip angles. Treatment must therefore be individualized on the basis of anatomic and physiologic findings. Of the patients, 40% were treated surgically, and 69% received some form of medical treatment, including antispasmodics, estrogen, Kegel's exercises, urethral dilatation and bladder drills; 9% were given a trial of medical therapy followed by surgical therapy. This practical approach to evaluating women with stress incontinence is easily used in the practitioner's office.     

Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence in Women With Osteoporosis

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence and frequency of urinary incontinence in women presenting to a specialist osteoporosis clinic.MethodsParticipants included 412 female patients aged 22 to 94 years (mean 62 years) presenting to a hospital-based specialist multidisciplinary osteoporosis clinic over one year. The presence or absence of urinary incontinence, urgency without leakage, type of symptoms (stress, urge, mixed) and frequency of urinary incontinence were recorded.ResultsSixty-seven percent of patients (277/412) reported some symptoms of urinary incontinence, 23% reported no symptoms and 10% reported urgency without any leakage. Of those who reported some urinary incontinence, 51% reported symptoms of stress incontinence, urgency, and urge incontinence. Almost 40% of all patients (163/412) and 59% of those with any urinary incontinence (163/277) reported leakage at least once per week.ConclusionThe prevalence of at least weekly urinary incontinence in this population is much higher than that reported in studies of other older adult female populations. There is also a high prevalence of incontinence accompanied by urgency in women with osteoporosis. Based on these results and because urinary incontinence can limit a woman’s ability to be physically active and increase the risk of falls and fractures, screening for incontinence should be a routine part of osteoporosis management. Clinicians seeing patients for osteoporosis should consider the presence of incontinence when prescribing exercise for bone health and fall prevention.     

Mixed urinary incontinence symptoms: urodynamic findings,incontinence severity,and treatment response

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the symptom of mixed urinary incontinence and incontinence severity, urodynamic findings, and treatment response. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of data from 553 women randomized into a double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating duloxetine (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) for the treatment of predominant stress urinary incontinence. Assessment variables included incontinent episode frequency, the Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I-QOL), and the Patient Global Impression of Severity Scale (PGI-S). Urge symptoms were identified with three urge I-QOL questions not included in corrected I-QOL calculations. RESULTS: At baseline, 171 women (31%) had mixed urinary incontinence. They had more severe baseline urinary incontinence than did those with stress urinary incontinence (mean incontinent episode frequency 14.3 versus 10.5; PGI-S normal or mild 26.5% versus 70.4%; mean corrected I-QOL 59.1 versus 79.9; all Ps <.001). Baseline urodynamics were performed on a subset of 86 women. Subjects with both urodynamic stress incontinence and detrusor overactivity had less severe incontinence compared with subjects with only urodynamic stress incontinence. Both mixed urinary incontinence and stress urinary incontinence groups had significant decreases in median incontinent episode frequency at a 40 mg per day (62% and 58%, respectively) and 80 mg per day (63% and 65%) duloxetine dose compared with placebo (33% and 44%; all Ps <.05). Response was not dependent on the type of symptoms (interaction P =.47). CONCLUSION: For women presenting with predominant stress urinary incontinence symptoms, the major determinant of concurrent urge symptoms was incontinence severity and not the pathophysiologic condition(s) causing the incontinence; duloxetine demonstrated equal efficacy for women with mixed urinary incontinence and pure stress urinary incontinence.     

Urinary incontinence during sexual intercourse: a common, but rarely volunteered, symptom

A total of 400 women referred consecutively to a gynaecological urology clinic was questioned with regard to their sexual activity and were subsequently investigated by cystometry to establish the prevalence of urinary incontinence occurring during intercourse, and to define the urodynamic background of sufferers. Of the 400 women 324 were sexually active, and of these 79 (24%) experienced incontinence during intercourse; in two thirds of sufferers incontinence occurred on penetration, whereas in the remaining one third urine leakage was restricted to orgasm. Of the former group 70% were shown to have genuine stress incontinence and 4% detrusor instability; of the latter, 42% had genuine stress incontinence and 35% detrusor instability. A comparison of cystometric variables in these two index groups and matched controls failed to identify any specific abnormality of bladder function associated with these symptoms.