Spinal electrodes could cure incontinence

(April 16, 2004)

Spinal electrodes could cure incontenince, suggests a new study. Implanting electrodes in the lower back to stimulate spinal nerves could help people suffering from bowel incontinence.

The results offer hope to the millions of people who suffer from the involuntary voiding of their bowels. Overall, two people in a hundred are affected by the condition. But as people age, the condition becomes increasingly common - affecting up to 11 per cent of men, and 26 per cent of women over the age of 50.

Now an international team has shown that implanting electrodes to stimulate the sacral spinal nerve greatly improves the condition and the quality of life of the sufferer. Stimulating the nerve helps to control the anal sphincter, the muscles which regulate the passage of the faeces.

"Our trial has shown a convincing benefit of sacral nerve stimulation," writes the team led by Klaus Matzel, at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Erlangen, Germany.

"In addition to functional improvement, our patients' enhanced quality of life was gratifying," they add. "This finding was not entirely unexpected, since fecal incontinence is an especially disabling social disorder."