GENERAL GYNECOLOGY The use of extracorporeal magnetic innervation for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in older women: a pilot study Yesim Bakar • O ¨ zlem Cinar O ¨ zdemir • Nuriye O ¨ zengin • Bu ¨ lent Duran Received: 13 September 2010 / Accepted: 8 December 2010 / Published online: 24 December 2010 Ó Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Purpose Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a major health problem that has substantial and important effects on health-related quality of life. In recent years, extracorporeal magnetic innervation (ExMI) has become a preferred method of treatment in urinary incontinence. This study presents the effects of ExMI treatment on pelvic floor muscle strength, urinary symptoms, incontinence condi- tions and quality of life of older women with SUI. Methods A total of 13 patients between the ages of 61 and 69 (mean 65.23 ± 2.8 years) were treated for SUI with ExMI. The following parameters were investigated: urinary symptoms, pelvic floor electromyographic (EMG) activity, 1-h pad test, incontinence conditions utilizing visual analog scale (VAS) and quality of life using Turkish version of the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) and the Inconti- nence Quality of Life Instrument (I-QoL). All assessments were conducted at baseline and at the end of the study. Treatment lasted for 20 min, twice a week and for a total of 6 weeks. Results The urinary symptoms and incontinence condi- tions decreased after the ExMI treatment sessions. The pad test results indicated a reduction in urine loss (p = 0.016). EMG values were improved (p = 0.005). Scores of I-QoL, UDI-6 and VAS were reduced after the treatment, respec- tively (p = 0.002), (p = 0.002) and (p = 0.006). Conclusion Extracorporeal magnetic innervation can be considered as it is an alternative, non-invasive and painless treatment method with good compliance for treatment of SUI in older patients. Keywords Stress urinary incontinence Á Older women Á Extracorporeal magnetic innervation Á Pelvic floor muscle strength Á Quality of life Introduction The International Continence Society defines urodynamic stress incontinence of urine as the involuntary loss of urine during increased intra-abdominal pressure, in the absence of a detrusor contraction [1]. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is an important healthcare problem with significant personal, family, and economic costs. The prevalence of urinary incontinence is expected to grow larger as demo- graphics change and the elderly population continues to increase [2]. The prevalence increases with advancing age [3]. Thom [4] reported that between 17 and 55% of older women having experienced urinary incontinence at some point, compared with 12–42% of younger women. Conservative therapies include medical management, Kegel exercises, biofeedback, and electrical stimulation. All of these treatments are established methods used in urinary incontinence. Among them, electrical stimulation has been developed for the treatment of urge incontinence as well as stress incontinence [5]. The results of electrical stimulation have been reported to be effective for stress incontinence and urge incontinence with success rates of 60–90% and 50–80%, respectively [5, 6]. However, Y. Bakar (&) Á O ¨ . Cinar O ¨ zdemir Á N. O ¨ zengin School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Abant Izzet Baysal University, 14280 Bolu, Turkey e-mail: ptyesim@yahoo.de B. Duran Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey 123 Arch Gynecol Obstet (2011) 284:1163–1168 DOI 10.1007/s00404-010-1814-5