Incontinence, urinary Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Purpose: to evaluate the frequency of urinary disorders and variation of the urodynamic parameters according to the time of post-menopause. Method: two hundred forty-two post-menopausal women with urinary complaints were studied at the Division of Gynecology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, UNIFESP. They were grouped according to the time of post-menopause: group A - up to 4 years; group B - 5 to 9 years and group C - more than 10 years. They were submitted to anamnesis, gynecological examination and urodynamic study. The frequency of urinary alterations and the variation of the urodynamic parameters were analyzed, such as voiding volume; flow time; maximum flow rate, average flow rate; residual urine; vesical capacity at the first desire to void; maximum bladder capacity; maximum urethral closure pressure and functional profile length, with full and empty bladder. The data were statistically analyzed. Results: the most common clinical diagnosis was stress urinary incontinence in the three groups, but the longer the time of post-menopause, the more frequently urinary urgency was observed. Regarding urodynamic diagnosis, 93.6%, 84.6% and 90.7% of the patients of the groups A, B and C, respectively, presented stress urinary incontinence, while 4.8%, 13.5% and 6.2% revealed detrusor instability. There was a decrease in the following urodynamic parameters, according to the time of post-menopause: flow time, maximum flow rate and vesical capacity at the first desire to void, and an increase of the residual urine. Conclusion: in spite of the high incidence of urinary symptoms such as urgency incontinence, stress urinary incontinence was the main urinary problem we have found in post-menopause.