Real clinical practice of postpartum anal incontinence treatment in Russia

Aim: To evaluate the medical care quality provided to patients with fecal incontinence in practice; to investigate the patient care effectiveness; to identify the problems the patient and the doctor are faced during the postpartum anal incontinence (AI) treatment.Methods: A questionnaire for surgeons was created using Google forms. It includes 22 questions about medical characteristics of patients with AI, used diagnostic methods, and treatment results. The answers were analyzed and presented as histograms.Results: Totally 134 (17.4%) questionnaires were completed from September to November 2020. Labor was the most common AI cause (74.4%). The median age was 20-40 years, 37% of patients was >40 years, 8% - >60 years. The most common complaints were incontinence (70%) and decreased life quality (72%). Rectovaginal fistulas were diagnosed in 28% of cases. The sphincter complex lesion size, age and anorectal manometry results determined the treatment strategy. Only 8.8% of surgeons suggested sacral neurostimulation in case of the other methods inefficiency. Up to 16.7% of patients were offered to create stoma as the final treatment method.Discussion: Our study is the first major survey for proctologists and surgeons in Russia, assessing the medical care of patients with postpartum AI. The results indicate insufficient attention to this problem; it requires educational and organizational solutions. Regional or federal centers where obstetrician and surgeons can work cooperatively could be extremely helpful to provide appropriate medical care to these patients and to improve the treatment quality for women with postpartum AI.