Bulkamid - A minimally invasive treatment for stress incontinence
Injection of Bulkamid is a minor, day stay procedure to treat stress incontinence. Its advantages is that it is a small operation with a short recovery afterwards. However, it is not necessarily the best treatment for all women, and urodynamics is very important to assess a woman's suitability for Bulkamid.
Procedure
Under general anaesthetic a camera is placed into the urethra, and Bulkamid is injected under the lining of the urethra. This helps to bulk up the urethra and increase resistance, reducing the risk of stress incontinence.
After this 20 minute procedure, you go to recovery, and then go home after you have passed urine.
Effectiveness
While Bulkamid is an excellent option, there are some downsides.
It is not as effective as a sling and it may not be successful in significantly improving stress incontinence.
Bulkamid is expensive, although it is sometimes covered by medical insurance.
Lastly, the effect of Bulkamid can wear off and need to be repeated.
The benefits of Bulkamid are that it is a minimally invasive surgery, which has very low risks. Specifically, the risk of not being able to pass urine post-operatively is very low.
