The Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network (UITN) is a group of urologists and urogynecologists from all over the country who are conducting research on the treatment of urinary incontinence, or accidental loss of urine.

This research is being funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

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ValUE (Value of Urodynamic Evaluation)

The ValUE Study is designed to determine the appropriate amount of pre-surgical urinary testing that is necessary for a patient. The main focus of this study will be a common pre-surgical urinary test called urodynamics. Urodynamic testing has become extremely common in women with straight-forward stress urinary incontinence for a variety of reasons. However, the utility of the urodynamic test has not been proven to be helpful to the patient or her doctor. In the ValUE study, women planning surgery for stress urinary incontinence will be assigned by chance to have the urodynamics testing or to go on to surgery with their doctor’s approval after a simple office-based evaluation with minimal testing. We hope that the results of the VALUE study will clarify the necessary testing for a woman with stress urinary incontinence who is planning surgical treatment.

TOMUS (Trial Of Mid-Urethral Slings)

The TOMUS study compared the outcomes of minimally invasive surgical procedures to treat stress urinary incontinence in women. Stress urinary incontinence is the accidental leakage of urine during activities such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, or lifting heavy objects.
These surgical procedures are called mid-urethral slings. The procedures insert a mesh sling or "hammock" to support the bladder neck so that urine does not leak. Both procedures have been approved by the FDA and have been shown to be safe and successful in treating stress urinary incontinence. However, we do not know if one is better than the other. This study answers that question.

SISTEr (Stress Incontinence Surgical Treatment Efficacy Trial)

This study compared the long-term outcomes of two commonly performed surgeries for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. The two surgeries are the Burch procedure and the sling procedure. Both of these surgeries have been performed for decades and have estimated cure rates of 60% to 90%. However, the long-term outcomes have not been studied.

BE-DRI (Behavior Enhances Drug Reduction of Incontinence)

There are two common treatments for urge incontinence---drug therapy and behavioral therapy. Both have been successful in reducing the number of accidents.  Drug therapy is the most common approach for treating urge incontinence.  Patients take the drug every day.  Behavioral therapy is another treatment option.  In behavioral therapy, patients are taught to increase the strength and control of the pelvic floor muscles and then to use these muscles to help the muscles in the bladder wall to relax when they feel a strong urge to pass urine.  Behavioral therapy can also include other helpful things that a woman can do to decrease the chances of having an accident.