Toowoomba Gastroenterology Clinic continues to have a strong interest in managing continence problems. Over the last 10 years we have placed sacral nerve stimulators in suitable patients to help with continence. Over the last 20 years sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) has emerged as a useful therapy for treatment of pelvic floor disorders, namely:
• Faecal incontinence
• Urge urinary incontinence
• Non-obstructing bladder retention
• Obstructive defecation with constipation
It is not known exactly how the therapy works but it stimulates the pelvic floor nerves to contract the muscles that are weak and also to re-set the “pelvic pacemaker’ and stop over activity which causes urgency of both bladder and bowel. The therapy is well tolerated and has a high success rate in selected patients (3 out of 4 patients selected for this procedure will have a positive response defined as “greater than 50% improvement in symptoms” to this therapy).
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