Future treatment

Abstract

The future of incontinence treatment will be guided by the increasing risk of the ever-aging population. Prevention of risk factors such as more conservative delivery techniques or less aggressive anal surgery will reduce the number of incontinent patients. Concerning therapy, new imaging will be helpful to plan surgical treatment and reduce organ injuries. There still remains a huge discrepancy between the incidence of incontinence that is actually reported and the amount of money put into research. These issues must be addressed in the near future. The area of nerve stimulation will continue to play a large role, and the development of direct pudendal nerve stimulation has yet to reveal its long-term effectiveness. Finally, the substitution of old and degenerative tissue by new tissue derived from stem cells is a promising way to treat general tissue degeneration. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Milan.