[Female urinary incontinence]

Several million women suffer from urinary incontinence in Germany. Stress and urge incontinence are especially clinically relevant. Training of the pelvic floor muscles (vaginal cones, electrical stimulation, biofeedback, and so forth) plays a central role in the conservative therapy of stress incontinence. The use of devices such as incontinence tampons and urethral pessaries is also common. A medication for the therapy of stress incontinence, which improves the closure of the urethral sphincter, has been on the market since 2004. In the operative area,the insertion of a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) has gained acceptance in recent years. Anticholinergics are the primary medication used in the treatment of urge incontinence. Local estrogens, low frequency electrical stimulation, phytotherapeutics and the like have supportive effects.