Efficacy of transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation in the treatment of bladder pain syndrome

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of transcutaneos tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) in the treatment of bladder pain syndrome (BPS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 16 female patients, diagnosed with BPS in our clinic between 2019 and 2021 and had TTNS twice a week for 12 weeks, were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 46.00 ± 13.11 years, and the mean body mass index was 26.43 ± 3.07 kg/m(2). After the treatment, the median day time frequency of the patients decreased from 13.37 (3.69) to 10.25 (4.56) (p < 0.001). Nocturia also decreased after treatment from 4.37 (1.81) to 3.00 (1.94) (p = 0.001). The median voiding volume increased by 26.5 mL (p = 0.001). The median of the patients’ visual analog scale scores decreased after treatment (median of visual analog scale score changed from interquartile range 8 [1] to 7 [4]) (p = 0.001). In addition, the median interquartile range interstitial cystitis symptom index scores decreased from 17 (4) to 15 (10) (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: In this study it was demonstrated that TTNS is an alternative method that can be successfully applied before invasive methods in the treatment of BPS.