ARTIFICIAL URETHRAL SPHINCTER (AUS)

Sphincters are muscle like structures that permits your body to hold the urine. An inflatable artificial (man-made) sphincter is a clinical tool that keeps urine away from the leaking when urinary sphincter no longer works properly. When you want to urinate, the cuff of the artificial sphincter will be relaxed so that urine can drain out. The main benefit of this artificial sphincter is urinary incontinence caused by removal of the prostate, severe continual leakage of urine from urethra, rigorous urinary incontinence for which other procedures of treatment have been failed.

PROCEDURE:

  • An artificial sphincter is a device prepared of silicone rubber which is used to treat urinary incontinence.

  • Initially patients will be given either general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia before starting of the procedure. With general anesthesia, patient will be asleep and won’t feel pain but with spinal anesthesia, they will be awake but numb from the waist down and won’t feel pain.

  • The three important parts of artificial sphincter are:

    1. A cuff – Which will fits around the urethra. When it is inflated (full), the cuff closes off urethra to stop the urine flow or leakage.

    2. A balloon – Which is placed under patients belly muscles. That will holds the same liquid as the cuff.

    3. A pump – Which is placed in a person’s scrotum or underneath the skin and in woman lower belly or leg. The pump relaxes the cuff by transferring liquid from the cuff to the balloon.

  • A surgical incision will be made in one of these areas by this the cuff can be put in place: Scrotum (men), labia (women), lower belly (men and women)

  • Once the artificial sphincter is in place in correct position, use of the pump to empty (deflate) the cuff. Squeezing the pump moves the fluid starting the cuff to balloon. When this cuff was empty, urethra opens so that patient can urinate. The cuff will re-inflate by its own within 90 seconds.

  • The cuff is inflated to remain urine from leaking. If patient wants to urinate, the cuff is deflated, and allows urine to drain out.