Higher rate of bladder neck incompetence in mixed urinary incontinence

Patients with mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) have a higher rate of bladder neck incompetence (BNI), according to a study published online Sept. 29 in the World Journal of Urology.

Yu-Chen Chen, from the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis involving 184 patients with stress UI (SUI), MUI, urge UI (UUI), or dry overactive bladder (OAB) who underwent transrectal ultrasound between 2017 and 2022. In all included patients, the presence of BNI and urethral incompetence was recorded.

Overall, 91, 84, 76, and 71 percent of patients exhibited BNI in the MUI, SUI, UUI, and OAB dry groups, respectively. Significantly more patients had BNI in the MUI than OAB dry group. The researchers found that compared to those without postoperative OAB symptoms, patients with OAB symptoms after anti-incontinence surgery had significantly higher rates of BNI and urethral incompetence.

The rate of postoperative BNI and urethral incompetence was lower for individuals with versus without improved OAB symptoms after surgery among MUI patients with preoperative BNI.

"We demonstrated that the rates of BNI and urethral incompetence were particularly high in the MUI group and that the presence of these anatomical abnormalities was associated with postoperative OAB symptoms," the authors write.