Sacral neuromodulation in the management of non-obstructive urinary retention: Test phase and predictive factors

The aim of this study is to evaluate the success of the test phase of sacral neuromodulation in management of chronic non-obstructive urinary retention and the factors predictive of good response.

This is a retrospective study carried out on a cohort of patients followed up in a tertiary University Hospital in France. Fifty-two patients with chronic non-obstructive urinary retention were included in this study. These patients were seen over the past 20 years, from the year 2000 to 2020. The initial evaluation of patients included a summary of medical and surgical history, age, BMI, history of pelvic floor disorders, initial voiding pattern, physical examination, voiding diary, initial uroflowmetry and a urodynamic study. Postoperative follow-up and analysis of complications were also carried out.

A total of 52 patients were included in this study, 13 males and 39 females. Out of these patients, 17 patients (32.7%) with a median age of 47.3 years±18.1 benefited from definitive implantation of the sacral neuromodulation. The univariate analysis showed that age was the only significant variable in this study and the optimal age threshold was<58.5 years.

SNM is a therapy with significant clinical benefits and low morbidity for patients with chronic non-obstructive urinary retention. The results obtained need to be confirmed with a prospective study with a larger number of patients.