TITLE:
Non-Ablative Transvaginal Radiofrequency in the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence: Review of the Literature
AUTHORS:
Haley Calcagnotto, Laura Leite, Vittoria Dreher Longo, Gustavo Messinger Piva, Thais Gasperin, Alexandra Maria Flores Bordignon, Renata Rauber Felkl, Jose Mauro Madi, Gabriela Françoes Rostirolla
KEYWORDS:
Radiofrequency, Urinary Incontinence, Genitourinary Syndrome of Meno-pause, Vaginal Atrophy
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.13 No.2,
February
13,
2023
ABSTRACT: Background: Urinary incontinence is defined as the involuntary loss of urine, which
can affect up to 45% of women after menopause. Radiofrequency is a non-invasive
procedure that involves the application of an electromagnetic wave that through
heat generation promotes neocollagenesis and neoeslatinogenesis in the vaginal
epithelium. This energy-based technology has been studied as a potential
alternative for the treatment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause and
urinary incontinence. Objective: To review the recent literature (from
2020 to June 2022) on the use of transvaginal radiofrequency in the treatment
of stress urinary incontinence, by searching articles at databases of Capes,
PubMed Cochrane and Scielo. Methods: The descriptor terms “Urinary
Incontinence/therapy” [Majr]
AND “Urinary Incontinence, Stress/therapy” [Majr] AND RADIOFREQUENCY-Search Results-PubMed, [“woman” OR “women”] AND [“urinary incontinence” OR “stress urinary
incontinence”] AND Radiofrequency were used, with a filter for the period 2020
to 2022. Conclusion: The studies evaluated in this review demonstrated
significant results of radiofrequency in the resolution or reduction of
complaints of women with urinary incontinence, especially stress urinary
incontinence, but most of these studies presented a low methodological quality.
There is, therefore, a lack of studies with longer follow-ups, evaluation of
cost-effectiveness, randomized clinical trials with objective outcomes and the
use of validated questionnaires with international acceptance.