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Effects of Transcutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation in Women Refractory to and Never Used Pharmacological Agents for Idiopathic Overactive Bladder

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) on quality of life (QoL) and clinical parameters related to incontinence in pharmacological agents (PhAs) naive and refractory women with idiopathic overactive bladder (iOAB).

Methods

In this prospective nonrandomized clinical trial, women with resistance to PhAs were included in the first group (n=21), PhA-naive women were included in the second group (n=21). TTNS was performed 2 days a week, a total of 12 sessions for 6 weeks. Every session lasted 30 min. Women were evaluated for the severity of incontinence (Pad test), 3-day voiding diary (voiding frequency, nocturia, incontinence episodes, and number of pads), symptom severity (Overactive Bladder Questionnaire-V8), quality of life (Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7), treatment satisfaction, positive response, and cure-improvement rates.

Results

A statistically significant improvement was found in all parameters for each group at the 6th week compared with the baseline values (p<0.05). It was found that the severity of incontinence, incontinence episodes, symptom severity, treatment satisfaction, and QoL parameters were significantly improved in PhA-naive group compared with the PhA-resistant group at the 6th week (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of voiding, nocturia, and number of pads between the two groups (p>0.05). Positive response rates, the primary outcome measure, were statistically significantly higher in the PhA-naive group than in the PhA-resistant group.

Conclusions

Although TTNS is more effective in PhA-naive women with iOAB, it appears to be an effective therapy that can also be used in the management of PhA-resistant women with iOAB.

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Abbreviations

BT:

Bladder training

iOAB:

İdiopathic overactive bladder

PhA:

Pharmacological agents

PTNS:

Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation

QoL:

Quality of life

TTNS:

Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation

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Funding statement

This study was not supported by any of the funding sources.

Data availability

Data are not open to the public but can be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine, 20160, Denizli, Turkey

    Necmettin Yildiz & Merve Arbay Celtek

Authors
  1. Necmettin Yildiz
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  2. Merve Arbay Celtek
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Contributions

N. Yildiz: protocol/project development, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing; M.A. Celtek: protocol/project development, data collection.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Necmettin Yildiz.

Ethics declarations

Ethics of approval statement

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Pamukkale University (approval number: E-60116787-020-277289).

Patient consent statement

All women were informed about the purpose and contents of the study and all women signed written consent to participate in the study.

Conflicts of interest

None.

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Handling Editor: G. Alessandro Digesu

Editor in Chief: Maria Bortolini

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Yildiz, N., Celtek, M.A. Effects of Transcutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation in Women Refractory to and Never Used Pharmacological Agents for Idiopathic Overactive Bladder. Int Urogynecol J 35, 571–578 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-023-05704-0

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