Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in female stress urinary incontinence
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a prevalent medical problem for women especially through escalation of age. Many conservative nonsurgical therapies have been used for management of this problem which will usually be followed by high relapse rates or frequent side effects. Evaluation of the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in management of genuine SUI has been studied in a few trials. We sought to assess the effectiveness and complications of high frequency TENS in SUI.
METHODS: In a clinical trial, 10 sessions of high frequency TENS with 15 minutes duration every other day were applied for 40 women with genuine SUI. Treatment results were evaluated by SUI severity index at the end of first and sixth months after final session of TENS and they were compared with the baseline index.
RESULTS: Seven patients (17.5%) were omitted from the study because of intolerance of TENS. In the remaining 33 patients, there was no sign of any complication. In comparison to baseline, severities of SUI showed significant decrements at first and second post-intervention evaluations (P<0.0001). There was a significant increase in SUI index from first month to sixth month (P<0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: TENS is a safe and cost-effective method for SUI management but its effectiveness decreases by time.
KEY WORDS: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, stress urinary incontinence.
METHODS: In a clinical trial, 10 sessions of high frequency TENS with 15 minutes duration every other day were applied for 40 women with genuine SUI. Treatment results were evaluated by SUI severity index at the end of first and sixth months after final session of TENS and they were compared with the baseline index.
RESULTS: Seven patients (17.5%) were omitted from the study because of intolerance of TENS. In the remaining 33 patients, there was no sign of any complication. In comparison to baseline, severities of SUI showed significant decrements at first and second post-intervention evaluations (P<0.0001). There was a significant increase in SUI index from first month to sixth month (P<0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: TENS is a safe and cost-effective method for SUI management but its effectiveness decreases by time.
KEY WORDS: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, stress urinary incontinence.