Effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical stimulation for refractory lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly female patients / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To assess the clinical effects of percutaneous electrical stimulation on refractory lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly female patients.@*Methods@#Elderly female patients with refractory lower urinary tract symptoms from July 2016 to December 2017 were recruited.According to cystoscopy results, patients were divided into an interstitial cystitis group, a suspected interstitial cystitis group and an overactive bladder group.All patients received 3 courses of transcutaneous low-frequency electrical stimulation treatment in the suprapubic bladder area, with 40 min per time, 4 times per day, 7 days per course.Bladder diaries, pain scores and overactive bladder symptom scores were recorded before and after treatment.@*Results@#A total of 27 patients with a mean age of 74.3 years were enrolled.Under the cystoscope with water dilatation, 9 cases were found to have mucosal bleeding, with mast cells detected in mucosal specimens examined via electron microscopy(in the interstitial cystitis group), 5 cases had superficial mucosal congestion(in the suspected interstitial cystitis group)and 13 cases showed normal imaging(in the overactive bladder group). In the interstitial cystitis group, the 24-h urinary frequency improved from 15.4±2.5 times before treatment to 11.9±2.0 times after treatment(P<0.05), but pain scores had no significant difference before and after treatment[(8.3±2.0) and (8.2±1.6), P>0.05]. In the suspected interstitial cystitis group, the 24-h urinary frequency improved from (11.8±1.5) times before treatment to (8.4±1.1) times after treatment, and pain scores decreased from (6.4±1.1) to (4.2±1.1)(P<0.05). In the overactive bladder group, the 24-h urinary frequency improved from (19.2±2.0) times before treatment to (15.9±1.3) times after treatment(P<0.05), and the overactive bladder symptom score(OABSS)decreased from (8.9±1.6) to (5.9±1.6)(P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#Percutaneous electrical stimulation is an easy, safe and effective treatment in elderly females with refractory lower urinary tract symptoms, and should be encouraged in clinical practice.