What are the symptoms of urinary incontinence?

Written by Wang Shuai
Urology
Updated on September 12, 2024
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Urinary incontinence mainly refers to the uncontrolled flow of urine from the urethral opening. There are several types of urinary incontinence, including stress incontinence, urge incontinence, overflow incontinence, tension incontinence, and neurogenic incontinence. Stress incontinence, commonly seen in women who have given birth, mainly refers to the leakage of urine from the urethral opening during actions that increase abdominal pressure, such as coughing, jumping rope, or sneezing. Urge incontinence is commonly seen in acute cases of bladder inflammation, where the inflammation stimulates the bladder, causing the patient to have a strong urge to urinate, thus losing control over urination, with urine flowing out from the urethral opening. Neurogenic incontinence is due to nerve damage, such as after spinal injury, leading to loss of bladder and urinary muscle function, causing urine to continuously flow out from the urethral opening.

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Written by Chen Feng
Urology
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What is the difference between genuine urinary incontinence and pseudo urinary incontinence?

Genuine urinary incontinence generally occurs due to incomplete closure of the urethral sphincter, or due to insufficient urethral closure pressure. As a result, patients will show continuous leakage of urine from the urethra or involuntary urine discharge from the urethra when there is an increase in intra-abdominal pressure, such as during sneezing, coughing, or performing strenuous physical activities. Genuine urinary incontinence includes both continuous and stress urinary incontinence. Pseudo urinary incontinence is generally due to urethral stricture, commonly seen with conditions such as prostatic hyperplasia or urethral stones. The urethral stricture prevents urine from being expelled from the bladder. When the bladder becomes overly full, urine overflows through the urethra, a condition also known as overflow incontinence.

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Written by Chen Tian Jing
Colorectal Surgery
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Can fecal incontinence be cancer?

The most common causes of fecal incontinence are neurological dysfunction or relaxation of the local anal sphincter. In some cases of advanced rectal cancer, excessive tumor growth can enlarge the local intestinal contents, leading to involuntary expulsion of feces. Diagnosis involves further examination using electronic colonoscopy, digital anal examination, and assessment of neurological function. If the cause is related to a neurological disorder, treatment by a neurologist is required. If the cause is relaxation of the anal sphincter, then anal sphincter tightening surgery may be considered. In cases where fecal incontinence is caused by an intestinal tumor, surgery to remove the tumor is recommended, along with radiation or chemotherapy.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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Does spinal bifida cause urinary incontinence during the day?

For patients with spina bifida, if it is occult spina bifida, they generally exhibit nocturnal enuresis, with rare instances of urinary incontinence during the day. For patients with manifest spina bifida, they may experience urinary incontinence during the day. Therefore, for patients with manifest spina bifida, it is usually recommended to perform surgical treatment at an early stage, with earlier surgery leading to better outcomes. It is generally advised for patients with manifest spina bifida to undergo surgery to effectively remove the locally protruding mass and to carefully clear the adherent nerve roots below, while monitoring changes in the patient's condition.

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Written by Chen Tian Jing
Colorectal Surgery
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Can fecal incontinence be recovered?

If fecal incontinence occurs, the first step is to identify the main cause of the fecal incontinence. If it is caused by relaxation of the anal sphincter and anal canal, then surgery can be performed to tighten this area, specifically through an anal tightening procedure, which can restore control over fecal incontinence. If the patient has other underlying diseases or is elderly and frail, accompanied by changes in the nervous system, the symptoms of fecal incontinence may be alleviated through medication or physical therapy, but complete recovery is unlikely. This is because the recovery of the nervous system requires the integrated regulation of other bodily organs and functions. If there are multiple underlying diseases or if the patient is elderly and frail, especially in the later stages of coma, recovery is difficult.

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Written by Deng Heng
Colorectal Surgery
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How to express fecal incontinence

Fecal incontinence, also known as anal incontinence, means that when the function of the anus is impaired, feces or intestinal fluid involuntarily leaks out of the anus. Therefore, it can be divided into two aspects: the first aspect is that some people only have incontinence of liquid stool, not solid feces; the other is that both solid and liquid stools are incontinent, both can involuntarily leak out, with the latter scenario being more severe. The causes are generally due to damage to the anus, congenital anomalies of the anus, damage to the anal sphincter, or diseases of the anus, among other reasons.