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Urinary Incontinence Management
UCI Health Center for Urological Care specializes in the treatment and management of complex urinary incontinence. Our world-renowned urologists have extensive knowledge and expertise in treating some of the most complicated cases of overactive bladders.
Our approach goes beyond treating the problem with medication alone. We offer minimally invasive treatments to bring relief to our patients. These include outpatient and minimally invasive procedures, including InterStim®, an implanted device that delivers imperceptible electrical pulses to sacral nerves, which govern muscles responsible for urinary and rectal control.
If you have a complex urinary or incontinence problem that doesn't respond to medication alone, the urologists at the UCI Health Center for Urological Care can help.
For more information or to schedule a consultation, call 714-292-9716.
Our urologists use the latest methods to diagnose the causes of incontinence. These include:
- Modern fluoro-video-urodynamic testing
- Neurophysiological testing, including bulbocavernosus latency measurement
- Anal manometry
- Perineal and vaginal ultrasound (female)
UCI Health urologists offer several neuromodulation treatment options for incontinence. They include:
- InterStim — InterStim therapy is a proven neuromodulation therapy that targets the communication problem between the brain and the nerves that control the bladder. It involves implanting an electronic bladder stimulator. This is a minimally invasive procedure done under local anesthetic and sedation in the operating room. Once implanted, the device is effective for five to seven years, requiring monitoring on an as-needed basis.
UCI Health urologists published one of the early U.S. studies showing the beneficial effects of InterStim® on urinary incontinence. This work has given our physicians extensive experience with the InterStim implant and sacral neuro-modulation. In fact, we conducted one of the largest studies showing a low infection rate in 120 women. We also have developed a unique technique to remove old implants with success rate of more than 90 percent.
- Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) — For patients who cannot tolerate medications and do not want surgery, UCI Health urologists offer PTNS, an outpatient procedure performed once a week, typically for about 12 weeks and as needed thereafter. The 30-minute treatment involves inserting a small needle electrode above the ankle to deliver an electrical pulse to the tibial nerve that is transmitted to the sacral nerve complex.
- Botox® injection — Another outpatient procedure is botulinum toxin injections. The injection helps to relieve the sense of urgency by preventing the nerves that control the bladder from communicating to the bladder muscle. This injection is the most minimally invasive of all treatment options and it usually is effective for as long as nine months.
