[Urinary incontinence in the woman--pathophysiology and diagnosis]

Since urinary incontinence is one of the most frequent female health problems and may severely affect a woman's life quality, knowledge about its pathophysiology, evaluation and therapy is very important. Even basic diagnostic tests can determine the type of incontinence (stress or urge urinary incontinence) thus permitting appropriate therapy to be initiated. The patients history, micturition diary, clinical evaluation, perineal ultrasound and urinalysis are important parts of these basic diagnostic tests. The positive stress cough test and the typical symptoms such as urine loss during physical activity point to the diagnosis of stress urinary incontinence. Frequency, nocturia and urgency with or without urine loss as well as more objective criteria such as micturition diaries and urinalysis indicate urge incontinence. Questions to help determine how quality of life is affected by the incontinence symptoms aid in deciding how urgent the treatment is. An urodynamic evaluation together with perineal ultrasound and cystoscopy is performed in patients with complex or recurrent urinary incontinence after surgery or with micturition disorders.