Adjustable continence therapy (ACT®) balloons to treat neurogenic and non-neurogenic female urinary incontinence.

AIMS: To compare efficacy and safety between neurogenic and non-neurogenic women after adjustable continence therapy (ACT®) balloons implantation to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) due to intrinsic sphincter deficiency.

METHODS

In the present retrospective multicentric study, all neurogenic and non-neurogenic women implanted with ACT® balloons between 2000 and 2018 were considered for inclusion. Efficacy was compared 1 year after implantation, and women were allocated in three different groups as follows. Success: maximum 1 pad per day and patient's impression of improvement assessed using a numeral rating scale (NRS) ≥8/10. Improvement: decrease of daily pad use and/or NRS ≥5/10. Failure: increase or stability of daily pad use or NRS <5/10. Overall surgical complications and explantations were compared 1 year after implantation.

RESULTS

Among the 277 included women, 51 presented with a neurologic underlying disease. Mean age at implantation was 68.5 years. There was no significant difference in efficacy between neurogenic and non-neurogenic women with a success rate of 39.2% and 36.3%, respectively (p = 0.69). Similarly, improvement rate was reported to be 31.4% and 33.6%, in neurogenic and non-neurogenic women, respectively (p = 0.92). The overall surgical complications rate (24% vs. 34.5%, p = 0.15) and the explantation rate (19.6% vs. 28.8%, p = 0.18) were not significantly different.

CONCLUSION

ACT balloons may be proposed to treat mixed or SUI in females with ISD. Efficacy and safety profiles appear to be similar in both neurogenic and non-neurogenic patients.