Occult stress incontinence in women with pelvic organ prolapse.

OBJECTIVES

To study the prevalence of occult stress urinary incontinence (SUI) among Indian women with genitourinary prolapse, and determine the risk of developing SUI after vaginal hysterectomy and pelvic floor repair in Indian women with occult SUI.

METHODS

A prospective cohort study of 78 women with significant genitourinary prolapse without symptoms of SUI was conducted at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. Before the surgical intervention, the prolapse was repositioned using a pessary and a Pyridium (Parke Davis, Morris Plains, NJ, USA) pad test was performed to detect occult SUI. The primary outcome studied was the risk of developing postoperative urinary incontinence.

RESULTS

Preoperatively, 67.9% of women were found to have occult SUI. The prevalence of SUI was 43.6% postoperatively, and 64.2% of the women with a positive result to the preoperative Pyridium pad test after pessary insertion were found to have urinary incontinence postoperatively. Postmenopausal women had twice the risk of developing occult SUI.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative testing is useful to identify women with genitourinary prolapse who have occult SUI. Women with a positive result may need a systematic clinical evaluation and urodynamic studies to characterize the incontinence. They can be then counseled preoperatively regarding concomitant anti-incontinence procedures.