Outcomes of treatment of faecal incontinence with sacral nerve stimulation – a Finnish multicentre study

Abstract

The aim of this multicentre study is to report the results of sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) treatment for faecal incontinence (FI) in Finland and determine factors that could influence SNS treatment outcomes. This is a national multicentre study, involving all patients tested for SNS implantation in Finland from 1999 to 2017. Data were collected retrospectively from electronic patient archives and analysed for possible effects on treatment outcome. Of the 432 patients with FI tested for SNS, 365 were women. Three hundred and thirteen (72.5%) of the tested patients advanced to permanent implantation of a stimulator. A successful final treatment outcome, with subjective alleviation of FI, was reported by 59.3% of the patients at the end of follow-up (mean 2.4 years, range 8 days to 13.3 years). Patients with obstetric sphincter injury and idiopathic FI had more permanent stimulator implantations than patients with iatrogenic injury (P = 0.012). Male patients had significantly worse test phase outcomes than female patients (P < 0.001). Age did not influence treatment outcome (P = 0.446) CONCLUSION: Subjective final success of SNS treatment for FI was achieved in 59.3% of patients at a mean of 2.4 years. Gender and the aetiology of FI influenced the test phase and final treatment outcome of SNS treatment.