[Combination of tolterodine and tamsulosin for benign prostatic hyperplasia]

Overactive bladder may coexist with bladder outlet obstruction induced by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the combined use of tolterodine and tamsulosin in the treatment of BPH accompanied by overactive bladder.

We selected 53 cases of clinically diagnosed BPH, and randomly assigned them to a tamsulosin group (n = 25) to receive 0.2 mg of tamsulosin once a day and a tamsulosin + tolterodine group (n = 28) to be treated with 0.2 mg of tamsulosin once a day plus 2 mg of tolterodine twice a day, both for 12 weeks. Before and after the treatment, we obtained the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS), quality of life (QOL) score and Qmax, and recorded the adverse events.

All the patients accomplished the 12-week treatment. The tamsulosin group showed a significant decrease in IPSS and QOL from 21.50 +/- 5.42 and 4.58 +/- 0.94 before the treatment to 14.80 +/- 4.21 and 2.78 +/- 0.91 after it (P < 0.05), but a significant increase in Qmax from (12.20 +/- 6.60) ml/s to (16.40 +/- 5.13) ml/s (P < 0.05). In the tamsulosin + tolterodine group, IPSS and QOL were decreased from 20.90 +/- 5.15 and 4.61 +/- 0.86 at the baseline to 14.90 +/- 5.32 and 2.12 +/- 0.87 after the medication (P < 0.05), Qmax was increased from (13.30 +/- 7.80) ml/s to (16.70 +/- 6.32) ml/s (P < 0.05), and the score on the urinary storage phase symptoms was reduced from 10.12 +/- 3.10 to 4.77 +/- 0.75 (P < 0.05).

Tamsulosin could quickly relieve BPH-induced lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) , while the combined use of tolterodine and tamsulosin could even better alleviate the LUTS and improve the QOL of BPH patients.