Vaginal diaphragm rings in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence

To assess the effectiveness of wearing vaginal diaphragm rings in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, 10 women with genuine stress incontinence were studied. Patients underwent urodynamic evaluation and perineal pad testing before and after fitted diaphragm rings were in place. Patients kept symptom diaries for 1 week without the ring and then for 1 week with the ring. They also gave an overall subjective evaluation of their experience. Urodynamic findings were essentially unchanged by wearing diaphragm rings. Trends toward improvement were observed in the results of pad tests and symptom diaries. Four of the 10 women experienced clinically significant improvement in amount of urine lost during pad tests, number of leaks per week, and overall assessment of response. Vaginal diaphragm rings may be an effective treatment for some women with stress urinary incontinence.