Urinary incontinence is one of the most common ailments in women - especially those suffering from obesity, who are in many postmenopausal women. However, the latest research published in the "European Journal of Gynecoloy, Obstetrics and Reproductive Biology" proves, however, that bariatric surgeries increasingly used to treat obesity significantly reduce the symptoms of urinary incontinence in this group of patients.
A study on the correlation between bariatric surgery and urinary incontinence involved 366 women suffering from grade III obesity (the so-called morbid obesity), after surgical treatment of obesity, with an average preoperative BMI (body mass index) of 51. 44 percent study participants suffered from urinary incontinence prior to bariatric surgery. In this group, 34 percent. reported stress urinary incontinence (SUI), 21% overactive bladder, and 44 percent complained of urinary incontinence due to both these pathomechanisms.
Twelve months after the bariatric surgery, the study participants completed a special ICIQ-UI SF questionnaire to assess the severity of disease symptoms - in this case, urinary incontinence. Alleviation of urinary incontinence symptoms was reported by: 41 percent women with stress urinary incontinence, 38 percent women with neurogenic bladder and 48 percent. women with both causes of urinary incontinence.
The study showed that bariatric surgery and the associated weight loss contributed to the reduction of symptoms related to urinary incontinence in obese women.