Christine M. Chu

Treatment of urinary retention caused by uterine leiomyoma with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist: case report and review.

Case We present a case of a symptomatic uterine leiomyoma presenting with recurrent urinary retention that was conservatively managed with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist. As far as we know, this is the first reported case of a successful treatment by gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist. We also compare other approaches to treatment of urinary retention secondary to uterine leiomyoma found in literature. Conclusion Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists can be offered to the patient as a potential, successful nonsurgical option in select cases.

Impact of urinary incontinence on female sexual health in women during midlife

Sexual health is important to the self worth, emotional well being, and overall quality of life of women in midlife. However, urinary incontinence, which is prevalent in this population, has a negative impact on sexual function. The purpose of this article is to review the impact of urinary incontinence on female sexual dysfunction and discuss the impact of urinary incontinence treatment on sexual function. We carried out a literature review on the effect of stress urinary incontinence and urgency urinary incontinence on sexual health and physiological response, including coital incontinence, satisfaction, desire, orgasm, frequency, and partner relationships. We examined the literature regarding changes in sexual function related to non-surgical and surgical interventions for incontinence. Overall, though studies are lacking and of poor quality, treatment of incontinence has been shown to improve sexual function. Both pelvic muscle training and midurethral slings have been shown to improve sexual function in those with stress urinary incontinence. In urgency urinary incontinence, evidence indicates improvement in sexual function after treatment with anti-muscarinic medications. Coital incontinence commonly improves with treatment of the underlying incontinence subtype. Although problems related to sexual health are complex and involve both psychological and physical factors, it is important to consider treatment of urinary incontinence as part of management of sexual dysfunction.