Pelvic floor exercise versus surgery for female urinary stress incontinence.
Fifty consecutive female patients with genuine urinary stress incontinence were randomized either to surgery or to a pelvic floor training program. The operative procedure was chosen according to the type of bladder suspension defect on micturition cystourethrography. The training program was given 5 times in weekly lessons and the patients were guided by trained physiotherapists. Surgery was superior to the pelvic floor training program both subjectively and objectively. However, a significant improvement was found following the training program. Forty-two percent were satisfied with the outcome of the training and did not want operation. We find physiotherapist-guided pelvic floor exercise a realistic alternative to surgery in patients with mild degrees of stress incontinence. Also patients with residual symptoms after surgery are candidates for pelvic floor training.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010388:Pelvis; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000628:therapy; D011897:Random Allocation; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000601:surgery; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D014563:Urodynamics; D014621:Vagina / Q000601:surgery