Self-controlled dorsal penile nerve stimulation to inhibit bladder hyperreflexia in incomplete spinal cord injury: a...

Intermittent catheterization is not always successful in achieving continence in spinal cord injury (SCI) and often requires adjunctive methods. Electric stimulation of sacral afferent nerves reduces hyperactivity of the bladder. This report describes application of self-controlled dorsal penile nerve stimulation for bladder hyperreflexia in incomplete SCI. The patient was a 33-year-old man with C6 incomplete quadriplegia who managed his bladder with intermittent self-catheterization and medication. Despite this, he continued to have reflex bladder contractions that he could feel but could not catheterize himself in time to prevent incontinence. We performed cystometry with dorsal penile nerve stimulation and analyzed data of home use of stimulation. During cystometry, the suppressive effect of electric stimulation on hyperreflexic contractions was reliable and reproducible. The patient could start stimulation on sensing bladder contraction, and the suppression of reflex contraction lasted several minutes after stopping brief stimulation. When using stimulation at home, the rate of leakage between catheterization decreased, and catheterized volume increased significantly.