Table of Contents
- The weakened pelvic floor muscles stretch.
- This allows the bladder to sag downward within the abdomen.
- The sagging bladder pulls on the muscles surrounding the bladder neck (internal sphincter), which are connected to the urethra.
Intrinsic sphincteric deficiency (ISD). Intrinsic sphincter deficiency is the other major cause of stress incontinence in women. It occurs when the bladder neck muscles are damaged or weakened. The result is twofold:
- The bladder neck is open during filling.
- The closing pressure around the urethra is low.
This is the most severe stress incontinence in women and usually occurs after previous surgeries for incontinence.
Causes of Stress Incontinence in Men
Prostate treatments can impair the sphincter muscles. Such treatments are the major causes of stress incontinence in men. They include the following:
Surgery or radiation for prostate cancer. Some degree of incontinence occurs in nearly all male patients for the first 3 - 6 months after radical prostatectomy. Within a year after the procedure, most men regain continence, although some leakage may still occur.
Surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Stress incontinence occurs in 1 - 5% of men after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), the standard treatment for severe benign prostatic hyperplasia.
|
Click the icon to see an illustrated series detailing TURP surgery. |
Incontinence after prostate procedures is often a combination of urge and stress. Because studies often combine the two types of incontinence, it is not always clear which predominates.
Review Date: 07/26/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine,
Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M.,
Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
