Physiotherapy or medication cannot always cure incontinence. 400,000 Belgians, especially the elderly, suffer from unintentional loss of urine. Many resign themselves to the facts and continue to live with incontinence pads. That’s too bad, because incontinence can often be treated. With specialised physiotherapy, medication or a combination of the two.
If that does not work, there are other options. Dr. Verbrugghe recently received a recognition to apply sacral neuromodulation.
A neurostimulator is inserted into the body for this purpose. It consists of a pacemaker and an electrode. The stimulator is implanted in the right buttock. It is connected to an electrode that is inserted into the lower back near the sacrum.
The stimulator delivers weak electrical impulses via electrodes to the sacral nerves, which play a role in bladder function. This restores the balance between the activating and inhibiting reflexes of the bladder.
The neurostimulator is inserted in two stages. First, the doctors insert the electrodes. We connect it to an external stimulator. In this way, they can test and adjust for a fortnight. If it goes well, the final internal stimulator is inserted. The battery lasts for five to ten years and then it is replaced.
Sacral neuromodulation is intended for patients who do not benefit from physical therapy or medication such as classical anticholinergics and betamimetics, and is mainly used for urge incontinence and for people who have difficulty urinating spontaneously. The technique works on 70 per cent of these patients.
