Etiology and treatment of urinary stress incontinence in women.

Abstract

Urinary stress incontinence is far more frequent than has been realized, and as a result it has not received the attention it deserves. Even in mild cases stress incontinence is a social handicap. It is offensive to a fastidious woman and makes her constantly apprehensive, and so she is grateful for relief from the ever-present insecurity. Happily, normal function can be restored by means of present-day surgical techniques, and women do not have to go through life coping with this affliction. The prevalence of stress incontinence was illustrated by a study made by Nemir and Middleton in 1954. They submitted a questionnaire to 1327 freshman women in the University of Utah, of whom 95% admitted having some stress incontinence. Of these only 5% experienced frequent loss, and none manifested any neurological or anatomical disturbance which would affect urinary control. In our own series of 2063 gynecological cases covering 12 years,