Background

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a condition that affects a large portion of the population, particularly women, due to reduced urethral closure capacity. This disorder leads to an involuntary loss of urine control and is commonly associated with pelvic floor muscle (PFM) weakness. The Electrostimulation may be applied to induce PFM contractions by directly stimulating motor points or indirectly through peripheral nerves.

Aims

Review in the literature the efficacy of TENS and NMES in urinary incontinence.

Material and methods

5185 articles were found in databases according to search criteria for each one of them, according to specific descriptors. According to eligibility criteria, in Phase 1 – reading of titles and abstracts, 3257 articles were included, and for Phase 2 – reading in full, 30 articles were included. Both phases were performed by two blinded reviewers using Rayyan – Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) software. Conflicts were resolved in consensus between the two reviewers, leaving 5 articles included in this review. To evaluate the quality of bias of the studies the Cochrane instrument, Rob 2, was used.

Results

Satisfactory results were found for pelvic floor muscle strength and pressure in all studies, as well as for urinary loss and daily urinary frequency. In one of the studies a greater efficiency was found in intravaginal electrostimulation in relation to surface electrostimulation, but both results were significantly positive.

Conclusions

It is concluded that electrostimulation with the use of TENS and NMES currents are effective, increasing the strength of the pelvic floor muscles and reducing urinary loss.