Stress incontinence: conservative therapy with sympathomimetic drugs.

There were 77 women with mild to moderate stress urinary incontinence treated with the sympathomimetic agent, phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride, combined with chlorpheniramine maleate and isopropamide iodide in a sustained release capsule (Ornade). The majority of these patients achieved significant improvement 3 months to 3 years after beginning therapy. A trial of conservative therapy is advisable for stress incontinence, especially when symptoms are mild or when the patients are in a poor risk category. Similar management of post-prostatectomy stress incontinence in men was disappointing. However, the occasional excellent results in patients with mild symptoms appear to justify a trial of conservative therapy before considering operative intervention in this group of patients.