[Perineal electrical stimulation and rehabilitation in urinary incontinence and other symptoms of non-neurologic origin]. / Electrostimulation et rééducation périnéale de l'incontinence urinaire et des troubles mictionnels non neurologiques.

A literature survey of 106 articles shows that standard electrostimulation is an effective treatment of urinary incontinence and urinary disorders with bladder instability. Bladder inhibition is obtained by applying an alternating current at a frequency of between 5 and 25Hz and with a pulse width of between 0.2 and 0.5ms. In 19 articles (including three randomized, placebo-controlled studies), good results were achieved in 60 to 90% of cases, depending on the exact method (i.e. chronic or acute stimulation). Standard electrostimulation is also efficient in stress urinary incontinence. Urethral closure is obtained by applying a 50Hz alternating current with, again, a pulse width of between 0.2 and 0.5ms. In 21 articles (including two randomized, placebo-controlled studies), good results were achieved in 47.5 to 77% of cases. Treatments combining perineal rehabilitation (behavioural education, muscle improvement and biofeed-back) and electrostimulation are reported by 10 authors, with good results in 70 to 80% of cases after 10 to 12 sessions. According to 14 studies, neuromodulation is also an efficient treatment for complex urinary disorders, urgency, pollakiuria and dysuria. The recommended stimulation parameters are a frequency of 10 to 15Hz and a pulse width of 210ms. Good results were found in 34 to 94% of cases (with between 60 and 75% in an international, multicenter study). The overall results different from one study to another because of the need to harmonize stimulation parameters, choice of the study population and treatment follow-up with self-training programs and therapeutic education.

[Neuropathy with non-alcoholic thiamine deficiency: two cases of bladder disorders]. / Neuropathies par carence en thiamine sans intoxication alcoolique: deux cas de troubles vésicosphinctériens.

INTRODUCTION: Neuropathy with non-alcoholic thiamine deficiency is reported in the literature, but bladder disorders are rarely detailed. CASE REPORTS: We report two cases of bladder disorders in neuropathy with thiamine deficiency. One patient presented with a flaccid bladder and impaired sensation; the postvoid residual volume was raised. The other patient had reduced bladder capacity, with detrusor hyperreflexia and detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia. In both cases, the bladder disorders disappeared with thiamine supplementation. CONCLUSION: Bladder symptoms may be heterogeneous in nonalcoholic neuropathy. The prognosis is good after vitamin supplementation.

[Suprapubic reflex. Electrophysiological study in normal patients]. / Le réflexe pubo-caverneux. Démonstration électrophysiologique.

INTRODUCTION: In spinal cord injuries patients, tapping the suprapubic aera is a strong stimulus to ellicit detrusor contraction and can be used in the management of neurogenic bladder. This stimulation also determines a perineal muscles contraction. This striated response was mentionned in animal studies but never specifically analysed in men especially in normal subjects. AIMS OF THE STUDY: Our objective was to describe pelvic floor responses with measurement of reflex latency following suprapubic mechanical stimulation. METHODS: 21 patients without neurological disease were studied. They were 14 women and 7 men. Mean age was 51 (SD=14,2). Motor responses were recorded with a needle electrode inserted in the left bulbocavernosus muscle. Stimulation was delivered with an electromechanical hammer, tapping directly on the suprapubic aera. RESULTS: A polyphasic muscular response was always and easily elicited in all patients. Mean latency was 67,5 ms. (SD = 14,7). The reproducibility between the first and second mechanical responses was good with no statistical difference (r=0,966; p=0,0001). DISCUSSION: Our study clearly demonstrates a suprapubic bulbocavernosus reflex (SBR). Many arguments can be retained for a polysynaptic reflex (polyphasic response, habituation and short latency of the reflex, mean latency in the habitual values of R2 responses following electrical stimulation of the dorsal nerve of the penis). We hypothetize that: the true stimulus is the stimulation of the bladder wall tenso-receptors; integration level of the SBR is the sacral segments and the efferent limb the pudendal nerve; afferent pathways could be vehicled by pelvic nerve fibers. CONCLUSION: Competition between a preponderant (or exaggerated) SBR and a bladder contraction following suprapubic tapping, may constitute a real functional outlet obstruction giving incomplete or complete retention in some suprasacral bladders. In normal subjects, SBR can be considered as a continence reflex with increase of perineal tone following the stimulation of the bladder wall tenso-receptors during stress.

Long-term results of sacral nerve stimulation (S3) for the treatment of neurogenic refractory urge incontinence related to detrusor hyperreflexia.

PURPOSE: We assess clinical and urodynamic results of sacral nerve stimulation for patients with neurogenic (spinal cord diseases) urge incontinence and detrusor hyperreflexia resistant to parasympatholytic drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Since 1992, 9 women with a mean age of 42.6 years (range 26 to 53) were treated for refractory neurogenic urge incontinence with sacral nerve stimulation. Neurological spinal diseases included viral and vascular myelitis in 1 patient each, multiple sclerosis in 5 and traumatic spinal cord injury in 2. Mean time since neurological diagnosis was 12 years. All patients had incontinence with chronic pad use related to detrusor hyperreflexia. Intermittent self-catheterization for external detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia was used by 5 patients. Social life was impaired and these patients were candidates for bladder augmentation. A sacral (S3) lead was surgically implanted and connected to a subcutaneous neurostimulator after a positive test stimulation trial. RESULTS: Mean followup was 43.6 months (range 7 to 72). All patients had clinically significant improvement of incontinence, and 5 were completely dry. Average number of voids per day decreased from 16.1 to 8.2. Urodynamic parameters at 6 months after implant improved significantly from baseline, including maximum bladder capacity from 244 to 377 ml. and volume at first uninhibited contraction from 214 to 340 ml. Maximum detrusor pressure at first uninhibited contraction increased in 3, stabilized in 2 and decreased in 4 patients. Urodynamic results returned to baseline when stimulation was inactivated. All patients subjectively reported improved visual analog scale results by at least 75% at last followup. CONCLUSIONS: Sacral nerve stimulation can be used as a reversible treatment option for refractory urge incontinence related to detrusor hyperreflexia in select patients with spinal lesions.

Is there a place for pudendal nerve maximal electrical stimulation for the treatment of detrusor hyperreflexia in spinal cord injury patients?

The aim of the study is to determine whether pudendal nerve maximal electrical stimulation (MES) could represent an alternative treatment for detrusor hyperreflexia in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Six suprasacral SCI patients participated in the study. The treatment consisted of daily stimulation periods of 20 min, repeated five times a week, during 4 weeks, with continuous electrical stimulation of the penis or of the clitoris via bipolar surface electrodes (rectangular stimuli of 0.5 ms pulse duration, 5 Hz frequency), with the maximum tolerable stimulation strength (under the level of pain). In two patients, additional stimulation was administrated by means of an anal plug during the last 2 weeks. The stimulus strengths ranged from 35 to 99 mA (mean 54 mA). One patient stopped MES after 2 weeks. At the end of the treatment, neither the cystometric bladder capacities (153 ml vs 157 ml) nor the micturition charts had significantly improved for the five remaining patients. Only two patients experienced non lasting improvement of nocturia at some time of the treatment. In conclusion, we were not able to demonstrate the efficacy of MES in inhibiting detrusor hyperreflexia in SCI patients. To reach therapeutic effects, other parameters may be needed, such as higher stimulation strengths (currents above or equal to 99 mA) or other currents (such as interferential therapy). Chronic stimulation with external or implanted electrodes using lower currents may represent an alternative.

Short-term effect of pudendal nerve electrical stimulation on detrusor hyperreflexia in spinal cord injury patients: importance of current strength.

Twenty patients with chronic suprasacral spinal cord injury presenting with detrusor hyperreflexia were examined. In a preliminary study in ten patients we investigated the reproducibility of bladder capacity through the repetition of three cystometries. The effect of electrical stimulation (ES) on detrusor hyperreflexia was then investigated in ten patients during three consecutive cystometries, the first one without ES (baseline) and the other two with continuous ES of the dorsal penile or clitoris nerve via surface electrodes. Parameters of stimulation were 5 Hz frequency, 0.50 msec pulse duration, and stimulation strength of 1 and 2 times the bulbocavernosus reflex threshold. No significant differences in bladder capacity were found between the three consecutive cystometries without ES (respectively 97.0 ml, 101.5 ml and 105.6 ml). A current at the bulbocavernosus threshold (mean 24.4 mA) failed to induce a significant increase in bladder capacity compared to baseline (173.0 ml vs 155.5 ml, P = 0.17) whereas a current of twice the bulbocavernosus threshold (mean 48.9 mA) was highly significant (318.5 ml vs 155.5 ml, P < 0.007). ES of twice the threshold resulted in perineal contraction in all of the patients, the threshold ES never did. Our results emphasise the decisive roles of perineal contraction and of current strength for achieving short-term bladder inhibition in spinal cord injury patients. The carry-over effect may also be dependent on the current strength. If so, maximal pudendal ES could represent an alternative procedure in the treatment of detrusor hyperreflexia in these patients.

[The use of electrical transcutaneous nerve stimulations in chronic pain. Method and preliminary results in 28 cases (author's transl)]. / Utilisation des stimulations nerveuses transcutanées dans le traitement des syndromes douloureux chroniques. Méthode et résultats préliminaires obtenus dans 28 cas.

The analgesic effect of conventional transcutaneous nerve stimulation has been studied in 29 patients, all having a chronic pain caused by peripheral neurological disease. As already reported in the literature half of patients were improved on a short-term basis. Long-term improvement was observed mainly in patients with traumatic nerve lesions; such cases, thus appear to be the best indication for this method. It should be emphasized that whatever the etiology, the delay between the onset of pain and the beginning of transcutaneous stimulations was a critical factor. Nine out of ten patients suffering for less than one year were satisfactorily improved. This suggests that transcutaneous stimulations should be used as early as possible after the onset of neurological pain.

[Neurological control of micturition (author's transl)]. / Controôle neurologique de la miction.

A study of the literature is reported on the subject of the control centres in the brain and medulla of the bladder reflex and their central and peripheral connections. Reference is made to the modes of action, from a pharmacological and physiological standpoint, of the main drugs tested experimentally and used in clinical practice. The study concludes with a brief outline of the functioning of the normal bladder reflex.