Combination treatment with an alpha-blocker plus an anticholinergic for bladder outlet obstruction: a prospective,...

We evaluate the effect of tolterodine combined with tamsulosin on quality of life in patients with bladder outlet obstruction and concomitant detrusor instability.

The study included 50 consecutive patients with urodynamically proven mild or moderate bladder outlet obstruction and concomitant detrusor instability. All patients were initially treated with 0.4 mg. tamsulosin orally once a day. A week later the patients were randomly allocated into group 1-25 who continued treatment with tamsulosin only and, group 2-25 who also received 2 mg. tolterodine orally twice daily. Reevaluation with a quality of life questionnaire and urodynamic study was performed after 3 months.

Two patients from group 2 stopped tolterodine while 1 patient from each group stopped tamsulosin because of hypotension. Analysis revealed statistically significant improvement in quality of life scores only in group 2 patients (mean score 525.0 and 628.4 before and after treatment, respectively, 2-sided t test p = 0.0003). A significant difference was noted in both groups after treatment for maximum flow rate and volume at first contraction. Additionally, in group 2, a statistically significant difference was observed for maximum detrusor pressure and maximum unstable contraction pressure after treatment.

Combination treatment with an alpha-blocker (tamsulosin) plus an anticholinergic (tolterodine) improves quality of life in patients with bladder outlet obstruction and concomitant detrusor instability. Interestingly, no acute urinary retention was observed and tolterodine did not affect the quality of urine flow or residual urine volume. The proposed combination appears to be an effective and relatively safe treatment option in patients with bladder outlet obstruction and detrusor instability.