Gunhilde M. Buchsbaum

Prevalence of urinary incontinence and associated risk factors in a cohort of nuns

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of urinary incontinence among a group of nulliparous nuns and to assess risk factors for developing incontinence. METHODS Information on symptoms of urinary incontinence, as well as medical history and demographic data were obtained from 149 nuns. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was determined, and a logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of demographic and medical risk factors on the likelihood of incontinence. RESULTS The mean (± standard deviation) age of our sample of nuns was 68 (±11.7). All but one were white, 96% were postmenopausal, and 25% were taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Their mean body mass index (BMI) was 27.3 ± 5.6. According to their self‐reported symptoms, half the nuns had urinary incontinence. Of these, 22 nuns (30%) had stress incontinence, 18 (24%) had urge incontinence, 26 (35%) had mixed incontinence, and 8 (11%) had urine loss unrelated to stress and urge. More than half the incontinent nuns used sanitary pads for protection. From univariate analyses, statistically significant risk factors for urinary incontinence included BMI, current HRT use, multiple urinary tract infections, hypertension, arthritis, depression, hysterectomy, and previous spinal surgery. From multivariate logistic regression, only BMI, multiple urinary tract infections, and depression remained statistically significant after adjusting for the other variables. CONCLUSION The prevalence of incontinence in nulliparous, predominantly postmenopausal nuns is similar to rates reported in parous, postmenopausal women. Even in the absence of pelvic floor trauma from childbirth, urine loss is associated with symptoms of stress incontinence more often than with symptoms of urge incontinence.

Pelvic organ prolapse in nulliparous women and their parous sisters.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of vaginal delivery and familial factors in the development of pelvic organ prolapse by comparing the prevalence of this condition in nulliparous women and their parous sisters. METHODS: Pairs of nulliparous and parous postmenopausal sisters were recruited for assessment of pelvic organ prolapse. One hundred one sister pairs underwent clinical evaluation. Pelvic organ prolapse was recorded using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification System. RESULTS: The majority of women had no pelvic organ prolapse. By compartment there was a 74.3% to 91.1% concordance in prolapse stage within sister pairs. In discordant sister pairs, the parous sister was found to have the more advanced prolapse 88% of the time. CONCLUSION: High concordance of pelvic organ prolapse in nulliparous and parous sister pairs suggests a familial predisposition toward developing this condition. However, vaginal delivery does appear to confer a risk for more advanced pelvic organ prolapse. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2

Urinary Incontinence in Nulliparous Women and Their Parous Sisters

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of vaginal delivery and familial factors in the development of urinary incontinence by comparing the prevalence of this condition in nulliparous women and their parous sisters. METHODS: A sample of 143 pairs of nulliparous/parous postmenopausal sisters completed a comprehensive questionnaire regarding symptoms of pelvic floor disorders. Of these, 101 pairs underwent clinical evaluation of urinary incontinence and genital prolapse. RESULTS: Among this sample of biological sisters, urinary incontinence was reported by 47.6% of nulliparous women and by 49.7% of parous women (P = .782). We found no difference in the severity or type of urinary incontinence between these 2 groups. There was a high concordance in continence status, however, within biological sisters. CONCLUSION: Vaginal birth does not seem to be associated with urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women. Considering the high concordance in continence status between sister pairs, and considering that the majority of parous women are continent, an underlying familial predisposition toward the development of urinary incontinence may be present. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2

Lower urinary tract injury during the Burch procedure: is there a role for routine cystoscopy?

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to evaluate the use of intraoperative cystoscopy for the detection of incidental bladder or ureteral injuries during abdominal urethropexy procedures and to determine whether the incidence of injuries warrants the routine use of cystoscopy. METHODS We reviewed the medical records of 109 consecutive patients who underwent abdominal urethropexy procedures between November 1990 and February 1996 at a teaching institution. Each underwent intraoperative cystoscopy. We determined the incidence of cystotomy and ureteral obstruction and attempted to determine surgical factors that might be associated with an increased risk of injury. RESULTS Ten of 109 patients (9%) had bladder or ureteral injury, including 1 cystotomy during retropubic dissection, 6 cases of a transvesical suture noted during cystoscopy, 1 cystotomy recognized before closure, 1 case of ureteral obstruction found during cystoscopy, and 1 case of ureteral obstruction not recognized at cystoscopy. Cystoscopy allowed detection of 7 of 9 (78%) otherwise unrecognized events. The only injury that resulted in significant postoperative morbidity was the unrecognized ureteral obstruction. There was no association between incidence of lower urinary tract injuries and surgical risk factors. CONCLUSION Intraoperative bladder or ureteral injuries during urethropexy procedures are not uncommon, with an incidence of 9% in our series. There is minimal morbidity if these injuries are detected and corrected during the operation, whereas morbidity may be significant if they remain unrecognized. With a potential for unrecognized injury in 8% of Burch procedures without the use of cystoscopy, routine use of cystoscopy during urethropexy procedures appears to be warranted.

Sodium fluorescein use during intraoperative cystoscopy.

BACKGROUND: Indigotindisulfonate sodium has been used during cystoscopy to identify the ureteral meatuses and to verify ureteral efflux during pelvic surgery. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the shortage of indigotindisulfonate sodium in June 2014. Surgeons have since been searching for safe alternatives with comparable visualization and an economically favorable profile. METHOD: The recent shortage of indigotindisulfonate sodium prompted our search for alternative options for visualizing ureteral patency during intraoperative cystoscopy. Multiple methods were considered, including instilling the bladder with D50 water, sterile water, or methylene blue-tinged saline and visualizing the contrast in either viscosity or color of the urine against the instilled medium, preoperative oral phenazopyridine, and intravenous methylene blue. Collectively, these methods proved suboptimal. As an alternative, we injected the 10% preparation of sodium fluorescein at 0.25–1 mL intravenously and observed a brilliant yellow ureteral jet minutes after injection (see Video 1). EXPERIENCE: Ten percent sodium fluorescein given intravenously in doses ranging from 0.25 to 1.0 cc results in good visualization of ureteral jets. One patient experienced transient yellowing of the sclera and palms. CONCLUSION: Sodium fluorescein is an effective alternative to indigotindisulfonate sodium for visualization of ureteral jets during intraoperative cystoscopy.

Incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in parous/nulliparous pairs of identical twins†‡

To evaluate the role of vaginal delivery in the development of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in four sets of identical twins.

Utility of urine reagent strip in screening women with incontinence for urinary tract infection

The aim of this study was to determine the utility of urine reagent strips in screening women with urinary incontinence for urinary tract infections. Subjects were all women presenting with urinary incontinence. A urine specimen was screened for urinary tract infection with a urine reagent strip and urine culture. Using the urine culture result as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the urine reagent strips were calculated. A total of 265 pairs of reagent strips and urine cultures were evaluated. Thirty-one cultures grew out of a single organism; nine of these had a positive urine reagent strip, yielding a sensitivity of 29%. The specificity of the urine reagent strip was 99%, the positive predictive value was 82% and the negative predictive value was 92%. For women presenting with urinary incontinence, the sensitivity of a urine reagent test for diagnosing urinary tract infection was low.

Comparison of 2 Techniques to Predict Voiding Efficiency After Inpatient Urogynecologic Surgery

PURPOSE We compared 2 techniques used to assess adequate postoperative bladder emptying. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a prospective, randomized, crossover study of 2 voiding trial techniques. 1) For back fill the bladder is filled with 300 cc saline before the Foley catheter is removed. 2) For auto fill the catheter is removed and the bladder is allowed to fill spontaneously. Patients were randomized into 2 groups for voiding trials, including group 1-auto fill followed by back fill or group 2-back fill followed by auto fill. Within 15 minutes of each void we measured post-void residual urine by straight catheterization. A void of two-thirds or greater of total bladder volume (voided volume plus post-void residual urine) at void 2 of the 2 voids was considered successful voiding. Patients who voided successfully were discharged home without a urethral catheter. We used the chi-square test with κ to determine successful bladder emptying. RESULTS We recruited 79 patients, of whom 65 with a mean age of 59.7 years (range 33 to 81) had complete data sets available for analysis. Of the patients 38 (58%) underwent prolapse repair only, 1 (2%) underwent a continence procedure only and 26 (40%) underwent each procedure. The back fill void trial correlated better with a successful voiding trial than the auto fill trial (κ = 0.91, 95% CI 0.81-1.00 vs κ = 0.56, 95% CI 0.39-0.74). Overall 40.5% of patients had an unsuccessful void trial on day 1 postoperatively and were discharged home with a catheter. None subsequently experienced urinary retention. CONCLUSIONS The back fill technique appears to be a better predictor of adequate postoperative bladder emptying than the auto fill technique for inpatient void trials.

Prevalence of symptomatic pelvic floor disorders among gynecologic oncology patients.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in patients with gynecologic cancer before cancer treatment. METHODS: A screening questionnaire on pelvic floor dysfunction was administered as part of the baseline health questionnaire to 549 consecutive new patients presenting to a gynecologic oncology practice. Patients were asked whether they felt a bulge from their vagina or experienced loss of urine associated with activity or urge to urinate. The prevalence of urinary incontinence, POP, or both was determined for each malignancy and benign conditions. &khgr;2 analyses and logistic regression were used to assess significance of differences. RESULTS: Among the 347 women with a gynecologic malignancy, 49.9% women had uterine, 21.0% ovarian, and 14.4% cervical cancer. More than half of the patients with cancer reported baseline urinary incontinence (UI) and 10.9% felt a bulge from their vagina. Approximately 19% of these women had moderate-to-severe symptoms. The prevalence of baseline UI (P=.86) and POP (P=.08) did not differ by gynecologic cancer nor did they differ compared with women with benign gynecologic conditions (UI P=.89, POP P=.20). Logistic regression demonstrated an association between incontinence symptoms and increased age and body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSIONS: Women with gynecologic cancer show high prevalence of symptomatic POP and UI. Age and BMI are risk factors for UI. Coordinated surgical intervention to address both the malignancy and pelvic floor dysfunction could be considered in select patients to enhance postoperative quality of life and to reduce the economic and quality-of-life costs of multiple surgeries. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II

Urinary incontinence secondary to severe labial agglutination.

The purpose of the study was to describe the presentation and management of urinary incontinence because of severe labial adhesions. Records of all patients diagnosed with labial agglutination and urinary incontinence at the Division of Gynecologic Specialties between January 1999 and February 2006 were reviewed. Clinical presentation, management, and treatment outcome were extracted from the records. Five subjects were identified. Mean age was 78 (range 59–87) years. Four subjects presented with mixed and one with urge urinary incontinence. Four reported change in flow of stream with voiding. Physical examination showed near-total occlusion of the introitus and urethral meatus in four subjects and partial occlusion in one subject. All were treated topically with estrogen and/or steroids. None of the subjects improved with conservative management, and all required lysis of the labial adhesions. Postoperatively, all were treated with daily topical estrogen and three with concurrent topical steroids. All subjects reported resolution of voiding dysfunction; three had complete resolution of their incontinence. Lysis of labial adhesions combined with postoperative topical estrogen and steroids appears to be an effective treatment in women with this condition.