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Parasacral transcutaneous electrical neural stimulation (PTENS) once a week for the treatment of overactive bladder
Lidyanne Ilidia da Silva de Paula1, Liliana Fajardo de Oliveira1, Brysa Paiva Cruz1
1Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), MG, Brazil.
Insights
Parasacral Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (PTENS) in weekly sessions effectively treated overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms like urgency and enuresis in children. Caregiver perception of improvement was also noted.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Urology
- Neurology
Background:
- Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common childhood voiding disorder, primarily causing urinary urgency.
- Current treatments like urotherapy and anticholinergics have limitations in adherence.
- Parasacral Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (PTENS) offers an alternative, but previous protocols were intensive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of PTENS administered in single weekly sessions for treating OAB in children.
- To assess adherence and symptom improvement with a less intensive PTENS protocol.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, randomized controlled trial involved 16 children with OAB, divided into a control group (urotherapy + placebo stimulation) and an experimental group (urotherapy + PTENS).
- Both groups received 20 weekly 20-minute sessions.
- Outcomes were measured using voiding diaries, visual analogue scale (VAS), Rome III criteria, and Bristol Scale at baseline, post-treatment, and 60 days later.
Main Results:
- The PTENS group showed significant improvement in urinary urgency (p=0.03) and an increase in dry nights (p=0.03) 60 days post-treatment.
- Caregivers reported greater symptom improvement in the PTENS group via VAS (p=0.05 and 0.04).
- No significant differences were observed in urinary incontinence, frequency, or constipation between groups.
Conclusions:
- Single weekly sessions of PTENS are effective for treating pediatric OAB symptoms, specifically urgency and enuresis.
- The treatment also improved caregiver-reported outcomes.
- Larger studies are recommended to confirm these findings.
Introduction:
Overactive bladder (OAB) is the most prevalent voiding disorder in childhood, and its main manifestation is urinary urgency. In general, urotherapy and anticholinergics are the first choices of treatment. Parasacral Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (PTENS) was introduced as an alternative for the treatment of detrusor overactivity in children, but treatment protocols described to date require several sessions per week or long-lasting sessions, making it difficult for the child to adhere to the treatment. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of PTENS in single weekly sessions in the treatment of OAB in children.
Study Design:
This prospective, randomized controlled trial included 16 children with OAB. Children were divided into two groups: CG (urotherapy and electrical stimulation placebo) and EG (urotherapy and PTENS). For both groups, therapy was delivered in 20 weekly sessions, of duration 20 min each. Placebo electrical stimulation was done in the scapular area. The children were evaluated prior to treatment (T1), at the end of the 20 sessions (T2), and 60 days after the completion of treatment (T3), with a 3-day voiding diary, visual analogue scale (VAS), Rome III diagnostic criteria, and the Bristol Scale.
Results:
The groups were similar in age, gender, and ethnicity. In the initial assessment, all children, in both groups, had urgency and incontinence, 50% in each group had constipation, and enuresis was present in seven children (87.5%) in the EG and six (75%) in the CG. No differences were found between the groups regarding the volumetric measurements made in the voiding diary, urinary frequency and constipation evaluated by the Rome III criteria and the Bristol Scale. Sixty days after treatment, a significant improvement was found in the EG group (p = 0.03) regarding urgency (Table), as well as an increase in dry nights in those presenting with enuresis (p = 0.03). No difference was noted regarding urinary incontinence (Table). At the end of 20 sessions and after 60 days of treatment, those responsible for the children in the EG perceived greater improvement in symptoms measured by the VAS (p = 0.05 and 0.04, respectively).
Conclusions:
Our preliminary results demonstrate that PTENS performed in single weekly sessions is effective in treating the bladder for symptoms of urinary urgency and enuresis, and in the perception of those responsible for the children. Further studies with larger populations are needed to corroborate these results.
