Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 02/17/2009
Artificial urinary sphincter surgery
According to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, urinary incontinence affects approximately 13 million adults. Men have incontinence rates that are much lower than women, with a range...
of 1.5–5%, compared to women over 65 with rates of almost 50%. In older men, prostate problems and their treatments are the most common sources of incontinence. Incontinence is a complication in nearly all male patients for the first three to six months after radical prostatectomy. A year after the procedure, most men regain continence. Stress incontinence occurs in 1–5% of men after the standard treatment for severe benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Artificial anal sphincter surgery
According to the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), more than 6.5 million Americans have fecal incontinence. Fecal incontinence affects people of all ages. It is estimated that over 2% of the population is affected by fecal incontinence. Many cases are never reported. Community-based studies reveal that 30% of patients are over the age of 65, and 63% are female. According to one study published in the American Journal of Gasteronology, only 34% of incontinent patients have ever mentioned their problem to a physician, even though 23% wear absorbent pads, 12% are on medications, and 11% lead lives restricted by their incontinence. Women are more than five times as likely as men to have fecal incontinence, primarily due to obstetric injury, especially with forceps delivery and anal sphincter laceration. Fecal incontinence is frequent in men who have total and subtotal prostatectomies. Fecal incontinence is not a part of aging, even though it affects people over 65 in higher numbers than other populations.
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Definition
Artificial sphincter insertion surgery is the implantation of an artificial valve in the genitourinary tract or in the anal canal to restore continence and psychological well being to individuals with urinary or anal sphincter insufficiency that leads to severe urinary or fecal incontinence.
Purpose
This procedure is useful for adults and children who have severe incontinence due to lack of muscle contraction by either the urethral sphincter or the bowel sphincter. The primary work of the lower urinary tract and the colon is the storage of urine and waste, respectively, until such time as the expulsion of urine or feces is appropriate. These holding and expelling functions in each system require a delicate balance of tension and relaxation of muscles, especially those related to conscious control of the act of urination or defecation through the valve-like sphincter in each system. Both types of incontinence have mechanical causes related to reservoir adequacy and sphincter, or "gatekeeper" control, as well as mixed etiologies in the chemistry, neurology, and psychology of human makeup. The simplest bases of incontinence lie in the mechanical components of reservoir mobility and sphincter muscle tone. These two factors receive the most surgical attention for both urinary and fecal incontinence.
From http://www.answers.com/topic/artificial-sphincter-insertion
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Circumcision is a controversial topic, because there is so much misinformation and emotion included as fact; the facts are fairly straightforward and there are some definite biological advantages to circumcision.
-Gerald McMorrow
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