On Diurnal Incontinence of Urine in Women. *

A degree of incontinence during the daytime when the sufferer is up and about on domestic or social employment is w r y common in parous women over 40 years of age. In its early stages this form of incontinence only occurs when the woman makes some effort producing sudden violent abdominal strain, such as coughing or sneezing, but as it grows worse it is provoked by any movement which involves a sudden jerk, such as walking downstairs, running, jumping, or laughing, whilst in very bad cases the patient can scarcely make a movement of any sort in the standing position without wetting herself. When the incontinence has attained to this degree the sufferer is entirely debarred from the ordinary routine of social life, and even in its early stages it is a very distressing and disabling condition. This being so it is a curious fact that diurnal incontinence has received but scant attention from British gynaecologists. Perhaps one reason for this may be that the gynacologist has considered it the business of the urologist, whilst the urologist has held it the business of the gynaecologist, and between the two the subject has been rather neglected. I t is for this reason that I ventured to think that a short paper on diurnal incontinence would be acceptable to the Section. Its occurrence is practically limited to women who have had