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Periurethral Bulking Agent Injection in the Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence

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Complications of Female Incontinence and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery

Abstract

Stress urinary incontinence is a highly prevalent condition among women in the United States. Several surgical treatment options exist for the management of stress incontinence, each with a unique risk/benefit profile. The use of periurethral bulking agent injection is associated with a low risk of morbidity though with decreased efficacy compared to the other available surgical treatments. The most common complications following periurethral bulking agent injection are related to voiding symptoms, such as new onset urinary urgency, dysuria, hematuria, or urinary retention, which are transient and typically resolve with conservative therapy. Rarely, additional local reactions, such as sterile abscess or urethral diverticulum formation can occur, at times necessitating surgical intervention. Likewise, systemic particle migration has been reported following bulking agent injection though among the currently FDA-approved agents the clinical significance of this is unknown. We present a review of the local and systemic complications following periurethral bulking agent injection.

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Lightner, D.J., Knoedler, J.J., Linder, B.J. (2017). Periurethral Bulking Agent Injection in the Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence. In: Goldman, H. (eds) Complications of Female Incontinence and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery. Current Clinical Urology. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49855-3_27

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