Sacral Stimulation May Ease Interstitial Cystitis.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Sacral nerve stimulation used in the treatment of overactive bladder can also benefit related disorders of the pelvic floor, experts said at the annual meeting of the American Urogynecologic Society.

"This therapy is extremely promising. Now we have something concrete to offer these patients," Dr. Ricardo Caraballo, a urogynecologist and reconstructive pelvic surgeon at Cooper Hospital in Camden, N.J., said in an interview.

In a study conducted by Dr. Caraballo and his associates at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, 15 women and 2 men with overactive bladder (OAB) underwent sacral nerve stimulation and subsequently experienced relief of symptoms related to OAB and other pelvic floor disorders, he said in a poster presentation at the meeting, cosponsored by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

"These were patients who came into our pelvic floor center with a multitude of pelvic floor dysfunctions. They had the normal symptoms of OAB, such as frequency urgency urge incontinence, and nocturia, but they also had other symptoms, like interstitial cystitis, as well as chronic pelvic pain and bowel symptoms," he said in an interview with this newspaper.

At a mean follow-up of 13.4 months, 94% of the patients said they considered the therapy a success for their bladder symptoms. All of the patients also had interstitial cystitis, and 82% noted a marked improvement in these symptoms.

Of the 10 patients with pelvic pain, 50% noted a marked improvement, and another 20% were cured.

And four out of five patients with chronic constipation and two out of three with chronic diarrhea said they had marked improvement after the therapy. Two patients with fecal incontinence noted no improvement in those symptoms.