Future trends in the treatment of urinary incontinence

Anticholinergic drugs act on efferent nerves to counteract overactive bladder (OAB) after it occurs. To prevent the occurrence of OAB, therapies should be directed at blocking the afferent nerves that control the bladder. Tachykinin-receptor antagonists hold great promise in this regard, since they can be administered orally and do not increase the risk of urinary retention that occurs with anticholinergics. Advanced drug delivery systems, such as controlled-release oral oxybutynin (oxybutynin-XL) can reduce the incidence of anticholinergic side effects. In a similar manner intravesical therapy for OAB is site specific, and thus also reduces the occurrence of adverse events. Moreover, the difficulties of intravesical therapy may now be overcome with advanced delivery techniques such as an implantable, long-acting drug-delivery pump. Another intravesical therapy that has met with great acceptance and success is the administration of chili pepper extracts, especially resiniferitoxin, which may be effective for up to 3 months with one application. Finally, gene therapy holds great promise for OAB, because it is possible to access all of the genitourinary organs via endoscopy and other minimally invasive techniques that are ideally suited for gene therapy.