Urinary incontinence is a term given to involuntary leakage of urine. Disease impacts the quality of life of a person and is a distressing situation. Urinary incontinence generally results secondary to an underlying medical condition which is often treatable. If there is problem with stools the condition is known as fecal incontinence.

 

Continence and micturition is due to balanced activity of detrussor muscle and urethral closure. Urethral pressure is normally more than bladder pressure which results in residual urine in the bladder. Normal voiding is due to changes in urethral and bladder pressure. Urinary Incontinence patients are always treated by the specialists after confirming the underlying cause. Urologist will ask for the pattern of voiding and urine leakage to confirm the type of the incontinence a patient is facing. As few other factors like stress, drugs etc. can lead to the incontinence so a urologist will try to look for the relevant history about these factors along with the medical examination which may reveal some medical cause or some compression on the urinary bladder or some part of the urethra.

Investigations for Diagnosis

• Measurement of residual urine and bladder capacity to assess the functioning of bladder muscles
• Stress test – While patient coughs an eye is kept over the leakage amount of urine
• Urinalysis – To rule out infection, urinary stones and other factors
• Blood tests may reveal some causes of urinary incontinence
• Ultrasound – of bladder, ureter and kidney region can be of some help in some cases
• Cystoscopy – It is a technique in which a cystoscope is passed in the urethra to see if there is some structural or any other problem in the urinary tract
• Urodynamics - In it various techniques are employed to measure the pressure in the bladder and flow of urine.