Sacral Magnetic Neuromodulation with Intermittent Theta Burst Waveform Enhances Overactive Bladder: In Vivo Study.

The current treatment options for overactive bladder (OAB) continue to pose challenges for refractory cases and may involve invasive procedures. To assess the potential benefit of non-invasive repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation (rPMS) on sacral roots using intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) as treatment option for OAB. The study involved a total of 33 rats, which were divided into three different experimental phases.

To induce bladder overactivity rats were pretreated with a continuous transvesical infusion of 0.5% acetic acid (AA). During bladder infusion, the intravesical pressure was recorded using cystometrography (CMG) to investigate the effects of AA pretreatment and the therapeutic intervention of acute sacral rPMS using iTBS.

Pre-application of rPMS with iTBS at a 100% intensity significantly extended the mean first voiding time (Tv) in normal healthy rats to 132%. Acute rPMS iTBS at a 100% intensity resulted in a significant increase of the inter-contraction interval (ICI) to 121%. An AA model was established with continuous saline infusion after 0.5% AA treatment and resulted in significant reductions of Tv to 42% and ICI to 56% of the corresponding control values. Subsequently, rPMS iTBS at a 100% intensity on the sacral nerve effectively inhibited AA-induced bladder overactivity and significantly increased the ICI to 167%∼222%. No significant changes in maximum bladder pressure (Pmax) were found.

Sacral nerve rPMS with iTBS demonstrated the ability to suppress AA-induced bladder overactivity. This promising modality could be developed as an alternative approach to enhance bladder continence in OAB syndrome patients.

Biomedical journal. 2024 Jul 24 [Epub ahead of print]

Nurida Khasanah, Hung-Yen Chin, Wei-Lun Lo, Bor-Shing Lin, Hung-Chou Chen, Jian-Chiun Liou, Chun-Wei Wu, Chih-Wei Peng

Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada-Dr Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan., Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City 235041, Taiwan; Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan., Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taipei University, New Taipei City 237303, Taiwan., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City 23561, Taiwan., School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan., Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; School of Gerontology and Long-Term Care, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan. Electronic address: .