INTRODUCTION - For bladder pain syndrome (BPS) refractory to conservative treatment, the European guidelines consider bladder hydrodistention (HD) under anaesthesia and the injection of Onabotulinumtoxin A (OnabotA) jointly.
The objective of this study was to assess our experience in implementing this technique.
MATERIALS AND METHODS - A prospective study of 25 patients with BPS who underwent HD plus a submucosal injection of 100 U of OnabotA in trigone. The Hunner lesions were treated endoscopically using resection or electrocoagulation. Thirty-eight procedures were performed (25 first interventions and 13 reoperations). To study the clinical change, we evaluated the subjective improvement (Treatment Benefit Scale [TBS] and Patient Global Impression of Change [PGIC] scales), the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, the Bladder Pain/Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Score (BPIC-SS) questionnaire and the voiding diary for 3 days. For the data analysis, we employed the Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis, Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests.
RESULTS - We observed subjective improvement in 21 patients (84%), which was significant in 47% of these patients, moderate in 41.2% and slight in 11.8%. Four patients did not improve. A post-treatment reduction in the pain VAS (from 7.1 to 1.8 points; P=.001), in daytime (from 11.8 to 7.5; P=.012) and night-time (from 5.9 to 3.6; P=.003) voiding frequency and in the BPIC-SS (from 27.9 to 11.2 points; P=.042). The degree of improvement was not related to age, the presence of bladder lesions or the treatment of relapses. The median duration of improvement was 7 months (95% CI 5.69-8.31), although this duration was somewhat longer for the patients younger than 65 years. Mild complications occurred in 23.7% of the cases.
CONCLUSIONS - The joint implementation of HD plus OnabotA is a valid therapeutic option in refractory BPS, which provides good clinical results and maintains its effectiveness in retreatments.
Actas urologicas espanolas. 2016 Feb 11 [Epub ahead of print]
L Lorenzo, M A Bonillo, S Arlandis, E Martínez-Cuenca, L Marzullo, E Broseta, F Boronat
Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España. Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España., Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España., Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España., Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España., Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España., Servicio Urología, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, España.