[Electrostimulation of the anal sphincter in incontinence among patients with spinal cord lesions]

The effect of electrostimulation of the rectum on the sphincter of the urinary bladder in patients with traumatic damage to the spinal cord and involuntary micturition was studied. It was established that the therapeutic effect of electrostimulation was determined by the parameters of the stimulating current. The optimum parameters were as follows: pulse duration, 0.8-1 msec; pulse shape, rectangular, diphase; frequency of electric pulse flow, 50 per sec. Output voltage--4 to 15 v. These electric current parameters were fed into a constructed electric stimulator of the urinary bladder sphincter ESMP 15-1. The effect of electric stimulation of the bladder sphincter in patients with damage to the spinal cord was highest in mild resistance of the sphincter; after a course of therapeutic electrostimulation the resistance grew. This facilitated the possibility of holding the urine in patients with injury to the spinal cord.