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ABSTRACT

Purpose: Post-void dribbling (PVD) is a type of incontinence defined as the involuntary loss of urine immediately after passing urine and rising from the toilet. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether anticholinergic therapy reduces symptoms of PVD in women placed on therapy for overactive bladder (OAB).

Methods: A survey was administered via telephone to patients being treated for OAB with anticholinergic medications who also carried a diagnosis of PVD. Patients were asked whether PVD symptoms had worsened, were unchanged, or had improved on anticholinergic therapy. Variables such as drug response to OAB symptoms, non-drug treatments for incontinence, and compensatory behaviors to avoid PVD symptoms were included. Other symptoms and variables of voiding dysfunction and medical comorbidities were collected from the medical record. Standard descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon rank sum, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to describe the data.

Results: Sixty participants completed the survey. Of the eligible patients, 82% consented to participate in the survey. Of those, 72% (95% CI: 59%-83%, p < 0.01) improved PVD symptoms on anticholinergic therapy. The response rate for OAB was also 72%. No difference was found between the response to PVD and OAB (p = 1). No other variable measured affected improvement in PVD symptoms on anticholinergic therapy.

Conclusions: In our survey, anticholinergic medications appeared to be effective in treating PVD with an efficacy similar to that of OAB. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Jessica Rasmussen, Songwon Seo, Tova Ablove

Submitted February 10, 2012 - Accepted for Publication April 17, 2012

KEYWORDS: Incontinence, overactive bladder, post-micturition dribble, survey, urge incontinence, women

CORRESPONDENCE: Tova Ablove, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Wisconsin, United States (tsablove@wisc.edu).

CITATION: UroToday Int J. 2012 June;5(3):art 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.3834/uij.1944-5784.2012.06.01