RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Nature Reviews Urology advance online publication 12 May 2015; doi:10.1038/nrurol.2015.101
PAIN
BoNT-A reduces pain in patients with treatment refractory IC/BPS The newly published results of a randomized controlled trial reveal that intravesical injections of onabotulinumtoxin-A (BoNT-A) reduce the pain symptoms of patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Patients who had previously failed to respond to at least 6 months of conventional IC/BPS treatment were recruited, and randomly assigned to receive intravesical injections of BoNT-A or normal saline. After a follow-up duration of 8 weeks, patients in the BoNT-A group reported a significant improvement in pain symptoms (as defined by patients using a selfassessment visual analogue scale) compared with the normal saline group. Patients who received BoNT-A also had significantly improved cystometric capacity. A variety of other urological parameters such as urinary frequency,
voided volume and functional bladder capacity, surprisingly, remained unaffected by treatment, although this finding might reflect spontaneous improvements in urological function in the placebo group. Despite reports of more incidences of dysuria in patients who received BoNT-A, 62% of these patients subjectively reported their treatment as being successful, compared with 15% of patients in the normal saline group. These findings demonstrate that intravesical injection of BoNT-A offers an effective form of pain management in patients with treatment-refractory IC/BPS. Peter Sidaway Original article Kuo, H.-C. et al. Intravesical botulinum toxin-A injections reduce bladder pain of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome refractory to conventional treatment—a prospective, multicenter, randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Neurourol. Urodyn. doi:10.1002/nau.22760
NATURE REVIEWS | UROLOGY
ADVANCE ONLINE PUBLICATION © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
PAIN
BoNT-A reduces pain in patients with treatment refractory IC/BPS The newly published results of a randomized controlled trial reveal that intravesical injections of onabotulinumtoxin-A (BoNT-A) reduce the pain symptoms of patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Patients who had previously failed to respond to at least 6 months of conventional IC/BPS treatment were recruited, and randomly assigned to receive intravesical injections of BoNT-A or normal saline. After a follow-up duration of 8 weeks, patients in the BoNT-A group reported a significant improvement in pain symptoms (as defined by patients using a selfassessment visual analogue scale) compared with the normal saline group. Patients who received BoNT-A also had significantly improved cystometric capacity. A variety of other urological parameters such as urinary frequency,
voided volume and functional bladder capacity, surprisingly, remained unaffected by treatment, although this finding might reflect spontaneous improvements in urological function in the placebo group. Despite reports of more incidences of dysuria in patients who received BoNT-A, 62% of these patients subjectively reported their treatment as being successful, compared with 15% of patients in the normal saline group. These findings demonstrate that intravesical injection of BoNT-A offers an effective form of pain management in patients with treatment-refractory IC/BPS. Peter Sidaway Original article Kuo, H.-C. et al. Intravesical botulinum toxin-A injections reduce bladder pain of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome refractory to conventional treatment—a prospective, multicenter, randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Neurourol. Urodyn. doi:10.1002/nau.22760
NATURE REVIEWS | UROLOGY
ADVANCE ONLINE PUBLICATION © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
