The pre- and postsurgical nursing of women with stress incontinence.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate subjective and objective methods used for the investigation of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and to compare the outcome of two different surgical techniques regarding cure rate, postoperative nursing, bladder drainage and postoperative pain relief. The study included 45 women with SUI, randomized either to retropubic urethrocystopexy (n = 30) or pubococcygeal repair (n = 15). The assessment included medical history, gynaecological examination, urine analysis and culture, residual urine, pad test, frequency-continence charts, water urethrocystoscopy, continence test, and cystometry with micturition analysis. Moreover, Beck's Depression Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Inventory were used before surgery. One year after surgery no significant difference in subjective cure rate was found between the two surgical methods (73% vs. 80%, respectively). According to pad tests, 67% of the women in the urethrocystopexy group and 47% in the pubococcygeal repair group had ceased to leak urine. The bladder volume increased significantly in both groups. Sixty-three per cent of the women in the urethrocystopexy and 33% in the pubococcygeal repair group experienced severe to very severe postoperative pain. In these groups, significantly more dysphoric women were found as compared with the group of women with less postoperative pain. Furthermore, the women with more severe pain scored higher on the neuroticism scale. These findings indicate the importance of personality factors in the treatment and nursing women with SUI.