Geriatrics: Guideline to Incontinence Updated

    

    

Doctors newspaper online, 26.09.2019

    

        
        
        

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geriatrics

Geriatrists have updated the guideline on urinary incontinence with recommendations for diagnostics and therapy especially in geriatric patients.

COLOGNE. Urinary incontinence mainly affects the elderly. It is estimated that about 40 percent of over-70s are incontinent in Germany. The Working Group on Incontinence of the German Society for Geriatrics (DGG) has now taken this situation into account and developed recommendations specifically for geriatric patients. The WG has reviewed around 500 trials and evaluated them for use on older patients, the DGG reports. The results have now been published in an updated S2e guideline on urinary incontinence.

"After several months of work in the interdisciplinary working group, we have now developed a guideline that gives the treating physicians very clear recommendations for action," says Professor Andreas Wiedemann, head of the DGG working group and chief physician of the Urological Clinic at the Protestant Hospital Witten. As an example he mentions the long-term urinary bladder drainage: "For the first time it is firmly established that a bladder catheter for incontinence treatment is only allowed if all other therapies are not applicable or desired. So far, catheters have been rashly laid, "says Wiedemann. It is the only German-language guideline on this topic so far, according to the DGG.

These break a breach through the study jungle. "Many study authors define older patients by age 65+ alone. But that's not enough, "explains Wiedemann. "A geriatric patient is characterized by vulnerability, multi-morbidity – he has several diseases – and he is much older, over 75 years. There are also clear differences between men and women. We have therefore examined all study results as to whether they are even relevant for geriatric patients. "For example, surgical high-end methods such as sacral neuromodulation, so-called" bladder pacemakers ", are not suitable for geriatric patients. In contrast, toilet training is especially important. Even frail elderly people with cognitive or physical limitations respond well to this form of behavioral training, said the DGG. (eb)

The guideline is available on: www.awmf.org/leitlinien/detail/ll/084-001.html

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