Conservative treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women: who will benefit?

The aim of the study was to find out which factors can predict the outcome of conservative treatment of urinary stress incontinence in women. One hundred and four women with stress urinary incontinence were evaluated by recall, and by clinical and urodynamic investigation and were given pelvic floor muscle exercises with or without the use of biphasic low-frequency electrostimulation and visual biofeedback. Two groups could be distinguished. The first consisted of 37 patients in whom conservative therapy proved successful; the second consisted of 67 patients in whom incontinence continued. The study investigated whether there was a significant difference in patients' characteristics between the two groups. The number of conservative treatment sessions was not different between the two groups. The presence of a high body mass index, previous pelvic surgery, strong levator muscles and urethral hypermobility appeared to be poor prognostic features. More research is required to evaluate which patients can benefit from conservative treatment and which criteria can predict the outcome of pelvic floor physiotherapy in women with stress incontinence. This way, patients selection is possible and excessive costs can be saved.