The Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network (UITN), initiated in 2000 by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, consists of nine clinical sites and one biostatistical coordinating center.  The NICHD Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch fully funds one clinical site and partially funds two other sites in the Network. 

The first UITN protocol is a randomized trial comparing two of the most commonly performed surgical procedures for treating incontinence in women:  Burch colposuspension versus autologous fascial sling.  The study’s results on 650 subjects, available by mid-2006, will provide critically important information about the relative effectiveness of these two procedures and will help guide clinicians in choosing the most appropriate treatments. 

The second UITN protocol, although still in development will be a randomized trial to compare behavioral and pharmacologic therapies for overactive bladder symptoms (i.e., urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence). 

For more information, visit http://www.niddk.nih.gov/patient/uitn/uitn.htm.