Incontinence

INCONTINENCE (Latin-incontinence), a term used to denote the symptom of involuntary emptying of hollow organs that serve as reservoirs for bodily secretions (urine, feces). These organs empty in a healthy state periodically, as their contents accumulate; their periodic activity is governed by reflex apparatus, the central parts of which are located in the lumbar-sacral region of the spinal cord (centrum vesicospinale et anospinale), with the controlling participation of the brain. Thus, incontinence of urine and feces (incontinentia urinae et alvi) can manifest either as a violation of the reflex arc in one of its components, or as a disconnection of the spinal cord centers (undamaged) from the brain, which in these cases is unable to inhibit urination or defecation by increasing sphincter tension. As a symptom of I. urinae et alvi, it appears in various diseases of the spinal cord (compression, myelitis, tabes dorsalis) and in deep lesions of consciousness, e.g., in fainting, in severe infectious diseases (typhoid, etc.), in epilepsy. As an independent disease, a special clinical picture of nocturnal enuresis (enuresis nocturna) is distinguished.