The role of pudendal nerve damage in the aetiology of genuine stress incontinence in women.

Conduction was studied in the terminal branches of the pudendal nerve in 42 women with normal urinary control and 87 women with stress incontinence of urine, genitourinary prolapse, or both. Women with stress incontinence of urine had delayed conduction to both the striated urethral muscle and the pelvic floor muscle, indicative of denervation injury. Women with normal urinary control and genitourinary prolapse had similar conduction times to the urethral sphincter striated muscle as normal women but clear evidence of denervation damage to the pelvic floor.