Our 11-Year Experience With Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation in Men and Women for the Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS).

Methods: Retrospective chart review was completed for patients with at least 10 weekly treatments of PTNS from January 2010 to October 2021. PTNS success was defined as conversion to PTNS maintenance therapy following 12weeks of PTNS induction therapy. Data were analyzed using GraphPad.

Results: Over the 11-year study period, 27 out of 34 patients (mean age 52.9 ± 16.8years; 25 females, 9 males) completed 12weeks of PTNS induction therapy, and 48.1% (13/27) successfully converted to PTNS maintenance therapy. Following 12weeks of PTNS induction therapy, significant improvements were noted in the urgency severity scale (range 0-4: 2.9 ± 1.2 before vs 1.1 ± 1.1 after PTNS, P = .001) and nocturnal urinary frequency (number of voids: 3.3 ± 1.9 before vs 2.2 ± 1.6 after PTNS, P = .041); and nonsignificant improvements were noted in daytime void frequency (hours: 1.5 ± 0.7 before vs 2.0 ± 0.9 after PTNS, P = .090) and the pain domain of the interstitial cystitis symptoms index (question 4, range 0-4: 2.5 ± 1.4 before vs 1.3 ± 1.8 after PTNS, P = .082).

Conclusion: Our sample size is among the largest sample of PTNS in IC/BPS from a single center. While PTNS achieved nonsignificant improvements in pain and daytime void frequency, significant improvements were observed in urinary urgency and nocturia. PTNS appears to be a plausible option in the multimodal approach to managing IC/BPS.