The following symptoms and complaints may indicate urinary incontinence:
Pathognomonic (indicative of a disease).
- Imperative urge to urinate: inability to voluntarily retain urine.
- Continuous urination in extraurethral urinary incontinence.
The following symptoms and complaints may indicate overactive bladder (ÜAB; “overactive bladder”, OAB):
Pathognomonic
- Pollakisuria: frequent urination (“frequency”).
- Imperative urination: sudden onset, difficult to delay strong urge to urinate (“urgency”), manifested with or without loss of urine.
- Nocturia: clustered nocturnal micturition frequency (frequency of urination) without underlying tangible diseases (eg, acute or chronic urinary tract infections (UTI), neurological diseases).
Note: If OAB results in urge incontinence, it is referred to as “OAB wet”; OAB without incontinence is referred to as “OAB dry”.
Further notes
- Men have predominantly urge-associated symptoms (92%) and women have predominantly strain-associated symptoms (78%) in association with urinary incontinence.
- Imperative urination is the leading symptom of urge incontinence.
Warning signs (red flags)
- Persistent incontinence → think of: Presence of a fistula (condition after surgery?) or neurological disorder.
- Breech anesthesia + urinary incontinence → think of: Kauda syndrome
