Incontinence

Inability to control excretions. Urinary incontinence is inability to keep urine in the bladder. Fecal incontinence is inability to retain feces in the rectum.

* * *

1. Inability to prevent the discharge of any of the excretions, especially of urine or feces. 2. Lack of restraint of the appetites, especially sexual. Cf.:intemperance. SYN: incontinentia. [L. in-continentia, fr. in- neg. + con-tineo, to hold together, fr. teneo, to hold]

- fecal i. SYN: i. of feces.

- i. of feces the involuntary voiding of feces into clothing or bedclothes, usually due to pathology affecting sphincter control or loss of cognitive functions. SYN: fecal i..

- i. of milk SYN: galactorrhea.

- overflow i. involuntary loss of urine associated with overdistention of the bladder, with or without a detrusor contraction. SYN: paradoxical i., passive i..

- paradoxical i. SYN: overflow i..

- passive i. SYN: overflow i..

- i. of pigment loss of melanin from the epidermis, and accumulation in melanophages in the upper dermis; seen in several inflammatory diseases of the skin and in incontinentia pigmenti.

- reflex i. loss of urine due to unintended detrusor hyperreflexia.

- stress urinary i. (SUI) leakage of urine as a result of coughing, straining, or some sudden voluntary movement, due to incompetence of the sphincteric mechanisms. SYN: urinary exertional i..

- urge i., urgency i. leakage of urine by unintended detrusor contraction with a strong desire to void.

- urinary exertional i. SYN: stress urinary i..

- i. of urine the involuntary voiding of urine into clothing or bedclothes. A common problem in elderly populations, especially those in nursing home s, it may be due to neurologic abnormalities, loss of sphincter function (especially common in multiparous women), chronic bladder outlet obstruction, or loss of cognitive functions.

* * *

in·con·ti·nence (')in-'känt-ən-ən(t)s n

1) inability or failure to restrain sexual appetite

2) inability of the body to control the evacuative functions <fecal \incontinence> see stress incontinence, urge incontinence

* * *

n.

1. the inappropriate involuntary passage of urine, resulting in wetting. Stress incontinence is the leak of urine on coughing and straining. It is common in women in whom the muscles of the pelvic floor are weakened after childbirth. Genuine stress incontinence (GSI) is incontinence in women due to a simultaneous rise in bladder and abdominal pressure that exceeds urethral resistance without a contraction of the detrusor muscle of the bladder. Overflow incontinence is leakage from a full bladder, which occurs most commonly in elderly men with bladder outflow obstruction or in patients with neurological conditions affecting bladder control. Urge incontinence is leakage of urine that accompanies an intense desire to pass water with failure of restraint. See also enuresis.

2. inability to control bowel movements (faecal incontinence).

3. any involuntary loss of faeces or flatus that is adversely affecting the patient's quality of life.

* * *

in·con·ti·nence (in-konґtĭ-nəns) [L. incontinentia] 1. inability to control excretory functions, such as defecation (fecal i.) or urination (urinary i.). 2. immoderation or excess.