Urinary Incontinence Treatment in Reno
Urinary and fecal incontinence can interfere with your personal, professional and social life. Constant bathroom trips and concerns about symptoms can get in between your relationships with loved ones and affect the way you feel about yourself.
If you have struggled with urinary or fecal incontinence for a long time, you might have already tried behavioral modifications or medical therapy but not found the lasting relief you need. With the help of Dr. Kent Sasse and the team at Nevada Surgical, Nevada’s premier center for continence solutions, the debilitating problem of urinary or fecal incontinence no longer has to affect your life.
Dr. Sasse and his advanced team of nurse practitioners and physician assistants have provided northern Nevada with comprehensive pelvic floor lab evaluations for over six years, and they have tremendous experience with resolving bowel and bladder leakage using sacral nerve modulation for hundreds of patients. This breakthrough solution is over 90 percent effective, very safe, long-lasting and covered by most insurance companies.
Candidates for Sacral Neuromodulation Therapy
Sacral nerve modulation is an option for anyone with bladder or bowel leakage, an overactive bladder or urinary retention who has not found relief through conservative treatment solutions.
An in-office consultation with our team can confirm whether the procedure is right for you.
How Sacral Nerve Modulation Therapy Helps
What is sacral nerve modulation?
Sacral nerve modulation is an effective solution for treating symptoms of overactive bladder (including urinary urgency incontinence), bowel (fecal) incontinence and urinary retention. This therapy is clinically proven to help people regain bladder and bowel control.
What are the benefits of sacral nerve modulation?
Sacral nerve modulation provides you with a long-term treatment solution that:
- Safely delivers therapy with a miniaturized implant
- Is designed to provide therapy for at least 15 years
- Is MRI compatible, allowing you to undergo a full-body MRI
- Clinically proven to provide symptom relief*
How does sacral nerve modulation work?
Dr. Sasse’s technique of sacral nerve modulation provides gentle stimulation to the nerves that control the bladder and bowel, which can restore normal control and result in symptom improvement.
The Evaluation Step: To see if sacral nerve modulation is right for you, you will undergo a short period of therapy using a temporary system. The evaluation period allows you to experience the level of symptom relief the therapy may provide before you commit to long-term therapy.
Long-term Therapy: If you and Dr. Sasse determine that sacral nerve modulation is right for you, you will have an outpatient procedure where the miniaturized implant is placed just beneath the skin in the upper part of your buttock.
Who is a good candidate for sacral nerve modulation?
It is up to you and Dr. Sasse to determine if you are a good candidate for sacral nerve modulation.
Sacral nerve modulation is an approved treatment for patients suffering with:
- Overactive bladder (OAB) – the urgent need to urinate which may result in frequent urinary and/or incontinence (leakage) episodes
- Urinary urgency frequency – the need to urinate 8 or more times a day
- Urinary urgency incontinence (UUI) – the urgent need to urinate or trouble holding urine before making it to the restroom
- Fecal (bowel) incontinence – sudden urges to pass stool and experience leakage of stool before making it to the restroom
- Nonobstructive urinary retention (UR) – the inability to empty the bladder which results in symptoms of frequent urination or trouble urinating
Sacral nerve modulation is indicated for patients who have failed conservative treatments, such as lifestyle changes, physical therapy, or medications.
Sacral nerve modulation is not appropriate for:
- Stress incontinence
- Treating urinary symptoms caused by mechanical obstructions, such as benign prostatic hypertrophy, cancer, or urethral stricture
- Patients who have not demonstrated an appropriate response to an external trial
- Patient with limited cognitive function, which may make it difficult to manage their therapy
- Pregnant women, the unborn fetus, and during delivery
- Pediatric patients (under the age of 18 years for FI and under the age of 16 years for OAB and UR)
- Patients with neurological disease origins, such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes
Clinically Proven. Patient Approved.
Backed by clinical studies, sacral nerve modulation is clinically proven to regain bladder and bowel control and deliver clinically meaningful improvement in quality of life.
In a clinical study of patients with urinary urgency incontinence (after 6 months of therapy),
- 93% of patients were satisfied with their therapy*
- 90% of patients experienced a ≥50% reduction in UUI symptoms*
- <2% of patients reported discomfort at the implant site
What to hear from an actual patient about their experience with sacral nerve modulation ?
Kathy had been suffering from overactive bladder (OAB) for many years. OAB was interfering with Kathy’s life, limiting her from being able to do the things she wanted to do. With sacral nerve modulation, she was able to regain control!
Individual results will vary, and no prediction of other patient’s outcomes are implied.
Get the symptom relief you deserve!
Ready to take the first step towards symptom relief? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Sasse to discuss your symptoms and to determine if sacral nerve modulation is right for you.
Sacral nerve modulation for urinary control is indicated for the treatment of urinary retention and the symptoms of overactive bladder, including urinary urge incontinence and significant symptoms of urgency-frequency alone or in combination, in patients who have failed or could not tolerate more conservative treatments. Sacral nerve modulation for bowel control is indicated for the treatment of chronic fecal incontinence in patients who have failed or are not candidates for more conservative treatments.
Sacral nerve modulation is contraindicated for patients who have not demonstrated an appropriate response to test stimulation or patients who are unable to operate the sacral nerve modulation system.
Caution: Federal law (USA) restricts this device to sale by, or on the order of, a physician.
* McCrery R, et al. Treatment of urinary urgency incontinence using a rechargeable SNM system: 6-month results of the ARTISAN-SNM study. J Urol. E-publication ahead of print July 26, 2019.
Sacral nerve modulation therapy gently stimulates the nerves that control the bladder and bowel. The sacral nerve carries signals between the spinal cord and the bladder and bowel and helps hold and release urine and bowel movements. Stimulating the sacral nerve helps control the signals and improve symptoms of and fecal incontinence.
Axonics created the first FDA approved rechargeable sacral nerve modulation device. In a clinical study, 90 percent of patients achieved clinically significant improvements at six months post-implant. Ninety-three percent of patients were satisfied with their therapy, and 92 percent said they would undergo treatment again with the same expected results.
Dr. Sasse’s technique of sacral nerve modulation offers some unique advantages. Firstly, patients with the device have the ability to undergo full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans; previously, this was not possible and the device needed to be explanted before an MRI. Also, the device is rechargeable and can offer up to 15 years of symptom relief (compared to other devices which required more frequent surgical replacement).
Another benefit to the device is the opportunity for a trial period. Interested candidates have the chance to wear a trial device for a week and test out the effectiveness of the product. If the candidate decides the device works to control their symptoms, a permanent device is placed under the skin in a simple outpatient procedure. The placement procedure is not a major surgery and does not require general anesthesia.
Are Treatments Covered by Insurance?
Certain sacral nerve modulation systems have been so successful in clinical trials that Medicare, Medicaid and most other private insurance providers offer coverage. The team at Nevada Surgical can confirm insurance coverage and help obtain pre-authorization for the procedure.
Learn More About Sacral Neuromodulation Therapy
Don’t let urinary or fecal incontinence affect your quality of life. Nevada Surgical can help. For more information about this breakthrough treatment, please call our office today at (775) 248-7894 and request a consultation with Dr. Sasse.
WHY CHOOSE DR. SASSE AND THE CONTINENCE CENTER?
Dr. Sasse…
- Completed his Fellowship training in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Lahey Clinic in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Conducted research and performed numerous pelvic floor evaluations for incontinence at the Lahey Clinic pelvic floor lab.
- Received a research award for his work on leakage and incontinence.
- Founded the first Continence Center in northern Nevada, offering complete evaluations with pelvic floor manometry and ultrasound.
- Has been providing outstanding relief to hundreds of patients using sacral neuromodulation.
- Serves as an adjunct assistant professor of surgery and cell biology at the School of Medicine of the University of Nevada.
- Has decades of experience with bowel and bladder disorders related to many conditions including diabetes, radiation, childbirth, aging, obesity, nerve injury, and trauma.
