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Recovery of bladder function following surgery for stress incontinence: Is it delayed in elderly patients?

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Abstract

The recovery of bladder function following surgery for urinary incontinence was evaluated in two groups of patients, whose ages respectively were 60 years and over, and less than 60. Preoperatively there were no clinical parameters that differed between the groups. All of the patients were operated on with transvaginal needle suspension procedures, where the bladder neck was quantitatively elevated by using spring scales and by taking loop length into consideration. Following surgery, patients with delayed recovery of bladder function were more numerous in the older group, and were characterized by periods of postvoiding residue (>50 ml) of more than 2 weeks, obstructed urine flow at 3 months postoperatively, and urgency 3 months after surgery. At 1 year follow-up, however, all patients had normal flow rates and no residual urine. No parameters were found that predicted poor bladder function following surgery. Twenty-seven months after surgery, 88% of the older group and 89% of the younger group were judged successful. The authors conclude that postoperative recovery of bladder function was significantly delayed in elderly patients for the first 3 months, probably because of age-related impairment of bladder function.

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  1. R. Kapoor

    Present address: Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Nagoya University Hospital, 65 Tsurumae, Showa, 466, Nagoya, Japan

    R. Kapoor,  A. Kondo & M. Saito

  2. Chubu-Rosai Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

    M. Narushima

Authors
  1. R. Kapoor
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  2. A. Kondo
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  3. M. Narushima
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  4. M. Saito
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Kapoor, R., Kondo, A., Narushima, M. et al. Recovery of bladder function following surgery for stress incontinence: Is it delayed in elderly patients?. Int Urogynecol J 4, 266–270 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00372733

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