Urinary incontinence affects approximately 25 million Americans, significantly diminishing their function and quality of life. It is estimated that 50% of all women will experience some form of urinary incontinence in their lifetime. Although women are disproportionately affected by urinary incontinence, 69% of men who have undergone prostatectomy also report post-surgical incontinence.

Extracorporeal Magnetic Innervation (ExMI) is a novel conservative approach to the treatment of urinary incontinence. As a patient sits fully clothed on a chair, an electromagnet delivers a timed magnetic field that penetrates the pelvic floor, inducing a nerve impulse that prompts contractions of the muscles of the pelvic floor. When the magnet is switched off, the muscles relax. This forced, passive exercise of the pelvic floor muscles serves to build endurance and strengthen the muscles supporting the bladder during times of physical stress such as coughing, laughing or running.

This study is a descriptive, retrospective analysis of data collected from a specialty continence center within a major Atlanta metropolitan outpatient facility. The records for all patients who received ExMI from 2000 to 2012 were reviewed. Of the 43 patients who had received ExMI, 35 met study inclusion criteria. Eight patients were eliminated from the study. Four of these patients experienced ExMI benefits for conditions unrelated to urinary incontinence and are discussed. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. .

The majority of the patients were women (n=26, 74%); most patients had stress urinary incontinence (n=16, 46%) or mixed urinary incontinence (n=12, 34%). The patient outcome was determined by comparing the pad usage before treatment and at the end of treatment (16 weeks). The average number of pads used daily was significantly reduced to 1.6 3 + 0.94 (p<.0001). Treatment with ExMI for urinary incontinence was briefly popular in the United States shortly after it was introduced. Although ExMI is used extensively across Europe and Asia, very few studies on the efficacy of ExMI appear in the literature. These results will add to this body of knowledge.