New research suggests that an injectable bulking agent may help to improve symptoms of faecal incontinence and reduce the need for incontinence products. Swedish scientists carried out a clinical trial of the new treatment, which involves injections of a product called dextranomer and hyaluronic acid.
A total of 206 patients, aged 18 to 75, took part in the study and the researchers found that after six months, more than half of the participants had a 50 per cent or greater reduction in the number of episodes of incontinence. In contrast, just 31 per cent of patients who received a sham treatment reported a similar improvement. Dr Wilhelm Graf, from Akademiska Sjukhuset in Uppsala, Sweden, told Pulse magazine: "This treatment is easy to apply and safe and might be used as a treatment before more invasive techniques or as an additional or adjuvant treatment if other treatments do not give adequate symptomatic relief." News of the trial is likely to be welcomed by many people, as about one per cent of adults in England are thought to need faecal incontinence products on a regular basis.