Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation has lasting benefit

(HealthDay)—Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation with the Urgent PC Neuromodulation System offers sustained overactive bladder symptom improvement after three years of therapy, according to a study published in the June issue of The Journal of Urology.

Kenneth M. Peters, M.D., from Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Mich., and colleagues assessed long-term outcomes for 50 participants from the Sham Effectiveness in Treatment of Overactive Bladder Symptoms Trial who met the primary effectiveness end point after 12 weekly percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation treatments and were enrolled in the Sustained Therapeutic Effects of Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (STEP) study. Participants were prescribed a fixed-schedule 14-week tapering protocol followed by a personal treatment plan to maintain overactive bladder symptom improvement.

The researchers found that the 29 patients who completed the 36-month protocol received a median of 1.1 treatments per month after the tapering protocol. At three years, an estimated 77 percent of patients maintained moderate or marked improvement in overactive bladder symptoms. There were significant decreases in median voids per day (12.0 at baseline to 8.7); nighttime voids per night (2.7 to 1.7); and urge incontinence episodes per day (3.3 to 0.3). Through three years, all quality-of-life parameters remained significantly improved versus baseline. Two mild treatment-related adverse events were experienced by one patient.

"Most STEP participants with an initial positive response to 12 weekly percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation treatments safely sustained overactive bladder symptom improvement to three years with an average of one treatment per month," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

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