Background and Objectives: To evaluate the effects of low intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy (LiESWT) on stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Materials and Methods: This investigation was a multicenter, single-blind, randomized-controlled trial study. Sixty female SUI patients were randomly assigned to receive LiESWT with 0.25 mJ/mm2 intensity, 3000 pulses, and 3 pulses/s, once weekly for a 4-week (W4) and 8-week (W8) period, or an identical sham LiESWT treatment without energy transmission. The primary endpoint was the changes in urine leakage as measured by a pad test and validated standardized questionnaires, while the secondary endpoint was the changes in a 3-day urinary diary among the baseline (W0), the W4 and W8 of LiESWT, and 1-month (F1), 3-month (F3), and 6-month (F6) follow-up after LiESWT. Results: The results showed that 4 weeks of LiESWT could significantly decrease urine leakage based on the pad test and validated standardized questionnaire scores, as compared to the sham group. Moreover, 8 weeks of LiESWT could significantly reduce urine leakage but increase urine volume and attenuate urgency symptoms, which showed meaningful and persistent improvement at W8, F1, F3, and F6. Furthermore, validated standardized questionnaire scores were significantly improved at W8, F1, F3, and F6 as compared to the baseline (W0). Conclusions: Eight weeks of LiESWT attenuated SUI symptoms upon physical activity, reduced urine leakage, and ameliorated overactive bladder symptoms, which implied that LiESWT significantly improved the quality of life. Our findings suggested that LiESWT could serve as a potentially novel and non-invasive treatment for SUI.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). 2021 Sep 08*** epublish ***
Kun-Ling Lin, Kuang-Shun Chueh, Jian-He Lu, Shu-Mien Chuang, Bin-Nan Wu, Yung-Chin Lee, Yi-Hsuan Wu, Mei-Chen Shen, Ting-Wei Sun, Cheng-Yu Long, Yung-Shun Juan
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan., Emerging Compounds Research Center, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung County 912, Taiwan., Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan., Department of Pharmacology, Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.