Current status in the pharmacological management of interstitial cystitis

Interstitial cystitis is a clinical condition occurring predominantly in women characterised by irritative voiding symptoms in the form of urinary frequency, urgency and pain. Patient symptoms have the potential to significantly affect quality of life, posing a challenge to some to perform activities of daily living. Those who reach an eventual diagnosis of interstitial cystitis have typically done so through an emotionally charged and circuitous route, the product of numerous physician encounters and stigmatising experiences. As such, these patients require considerate care. Overall, current pharmacological agents for the treatment of those with interstitial cystitis, provide a measure of symptomatic benefit, however, a universally effective regimen remains to be reported. As a definitive disease aetiopathogenesis is not fully determined, trials of pharmacological therapy are ongoing.