CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT OF PELVIC FLOOR DISORDERS – TODAY`S CHALLENGES AND TOMORROW`S PERSPECTIVES

Prevalence of incontinence is high, even in the young and healthy population. Urinary Incontinence has reached a level that justifies its repeated classification of being an epidemic. Risk factors for the development of UI are numerous and oftentimes intertwined, yet they oftentimes seem to be non-related and unsuspicious. Evidence based, conservative treatment options are few and mostly used in a non-standardized way.

Guidelines for conservative treatment of UI lack high-quality surveys in order to substantiate recommendations. The existence of good evidence for one treatment option entails the danger of being used as a universal remedy. However, the diversity of underlying causes requires a multitude of treatment options. Thus the review at hand gives a concise overview over populations affected, underlying risk factors and state of the art conservative treatment options, in order to outline the necessity for adequate, individualized and evidenced treatment options. It then culminates in introducing first approaches toward specifically tailored, conservative treatment options that are so urgently needed.