Targeting the Autonomic Nervous System for Treatment of Urinary Incontinence.

Urinary incontinence is a difficult condition that affects millions of people around the world. Recent research has opened the door to understanding the involvement of imbalance in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as a cause of urge urinary incontinence (UUI) and has highlighted the therapeutic potential of targeting the sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways. This mini-review discusses current pharmacological and neuromodulation approaches that act on the ANS to restore bladder function. Future research should investigate the role of the ANS in bladder dysfunction and incontinence in more depth, and assess optimization of neuromodulation protocols and therapy combination to improve outcomes for patients with UUI. PATIENT SUMMARY: Our mini-review discusses dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as a possible cause of urge urinary incontinence. We describe treatments that could have an effect on incontinence by improving the balance of the ANS. Further research is needed to define the role of the ANS in tailoring treatment for individual patients.