Two-In One Approach To Prevent Incontinence After Prolapse Surgery

Surgeons have now found a new surgical approach termed as Burch colposuspension to prevent urinary incontinence, resulting in involuntary loss of urine. It is a post operative complication of pelvic surgery done for correction of prolapse, a condition in which the vagina and the neighboring structures lose support and fall out of position.

Most women who undergo the pelvic surgery are left to deal with urinary stress incontinence all through their life. Urinary stress incontinence is a condition in which there is a leak of urine associated with activities such as coughing, laughing, sneezing etc. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that addition of bladder-supporting procedure to the conventional surgery decreases the incidence of stress urinary incontinence.

Nearly 200, 000 American women undergo surgery for correction of prolapse every year. The most commonly performed procedure called sacrocolpopexy, restores the normal anatomy of the internal reproductive organs is associated with a high risk of urinary incontinence.

The study was conducted on nearly 322 women who underwent surgical correction of uterine prolapse. The study participants were randomly selected to undergo pelvic correction surgery with or without the Burch procedure, in which the vagina is sutured to the pelvic ligaments on either side to support the urinary sphincter.

One in four women who underwent just the pelvic surgery (without Burch procedure) developed urinary incontinence to a level sufficient enough to rise botheration. The incidence of the condition was reduced to 1 in 20 by addition of four stitches of the Burch procedure. As the urinary sphincter is secured, movement is restricted and hence the risk of incontinence is greatly reduced.

This new surgical procedure is believed to benefit nearly 1 in 11 women who would need some form of surgical correction for prolapse, by the time they reach 80 years of age.