Electrostimulation of the neuropathic bladder

Intravesical electrostimulation offers promise in management of neurogenic bladder in children with myelocele. In the past 2 yr, we carried out about 500 treatments in 25 children aged 2 wk to 13 yr. After repeated stimulation, the starting intravesical pressure increases considerably in all cases; however, this was not always accompanied by clinical improvement. Our early results are encouraging, especially after repeated 10-day courses of electrostimulation; bladder contractions increase slowly and micturition begins to appear. Seventeen of 25 patients showed significant improvement, in two patients no improvement was observed. The remaining six have not been treated long enough to evaluate.