Effect of Pelvic Floor Magnetic Stimulation Therapy on the Patient with Female Stress Urinary Incontinence

Kim, Si Sung; Lee, Jeong Gu; Lee, Woong Hee

Abstract

Purpose: Pulsed magnetic technology has been developed for pelvic floor muscle strengthening in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). This report includes a prospective multi-center study of pelvic floor magnetic stimulation (PMS) for SUI.
Materials and Methods
Sixty-four women, with demonstrable SUI, were studied. Fifty-six completed the PMS therapy and were available for analyzed. Evaluations, both before and 6 weeks after treatment included bladder diaries, 1-hour pad weight test, perineometry and a quality-of-life survey. For the treatments the patients were seated, fully clothed, in a PMS system, with a magnetic field therapy head in the seat. The treatment sessions were for 20 minutes, twice a week, for 6 weeks. To compare the results, the patients were divided into pure SUI and mixed urinary incontinence groups.
Results
Of the 56 patients, 13 were completely dry (23.2%). The mean weight of the used pad was reduced from 15.26 to 2g (p<0.01) after the PMS. The frequency of leak episodes was reduced from 2.04 to 0.94/day (p<0.001), and the number of micturition from 8.35 to 7.19/day, following the treatment (p<0.001). The number of frequent micturition (>8 times/day) was also reduced from 10.55 to 8.14/day following the treatment (p<0.001). The pressure of the pelvic muscle contractions increased from 30.3 to 36.95cmH2O (p<0.001). Forty-five patients (80.35%) were satisfied with the results of the PMS. At the baseline, the number of incontinence episodes, weight of used pads and pressure of the pelvic muscle contractions were significantly higher in the mixed incontinence (n=17) than in the pure SUI (n=39) group. There were no differences in the treatment results between the pure SUI and mixed urinary incontinence groups. No adverse events were reported during the study period.
Conclusions
PMS therapy is effective for both stress and mixed urinary incontinence. A longer follow-up will be required to determine how long the benefits of treatment last, and whether retreatment will be required.