Effect of abdominal hysterectomy on developing urinary and faecal incontinence later in life.

The objective of this retrospective longitudinal study was to investigate the incidence and severity of urinary and faecal incontinence in women after either total abdominal hysterectomy or comparable abdominal surgery. Age-matched and postoperative time-matched control groups were drawn from women attending for operation at a Scottish District General Hospital, during the early 1990s (59 women in the hysterectomy group and 33 women in the control group, with a mean preoperative age 40.4 years and 38.1 years, respectively). Within-group and between-group analyses were conducted using t and Fisher's exact tests. Within each group, changes in all urinary and faecal variables during the 10-year period were extremely significant (p < 0003). With the exception of urinary urgency (p = 0.028), there was no statistical difference between the groups.