FDA Approval of New Therapy for Urinary Control Provides New Hope for Patients
New York, NY (May 1999) — A therapy that offers new hope to the millions of people who suffer from severe urinary control problems and do not respond to or are dissatisfied with drug or behavioral treatments is now available at New York Weill Cornell Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital.
InterStim Therapy for Urinary Control, recently approved for three indications by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), has been found in clinical trials to be a promising treatment option for those who suffer from urinary urge incontinence, urinary retention or significant symptoms of urgency-frequency, all of which are conditions that can destroy the ability to hold a job and live a normal life. Of the estimated 13 million Americans who suffer urinary control problems, approximately 85 percent are women between the ages of 30 and 59 — women who are in the most active, productive years of their lives.
"This new therapy can help people with severe types of incontinence regain their ability to work and perform normal activities without fear of embarrassment," said George Young, M.D., of the Department of Urology at New York Weill Cornell. "It represents a new type of treatment for incontinence, one that many patients should consider before resorting to bladder augmentation, bladder removal or other irreversible surgical options."
People with urinary urge-incontinence or significant symptoms of urgency-frequency may feel a strong urge to urinate as many as 40 times a day and often are embarrased by wetting episodes. Although a variety of therapies are available to them, as many as 30 percent may not respond well to incontinence medications. People with urinary retention have difficulty going to the bathroom. They have few therapy options and must use a catheter to empty their bladders.
InterStim Therapy uses neurostimulation to send mild electrical pulses to the sacral nerves that control bladder function. A stopwatch-sized neurostimulator, surgically placed under the skin of the abdomen, generates mild pulses that are carried via a thin implanted lead, or wire, to the sacral nerves in the lower back.
A simple diagnostic trial — or test stimulation — initiated in a physician's office can help assess whether this therapy will prove effective for individual patients. Physicians can test its potential effectiveness before surgical placement of the neurostimulator by adjusting the strength of stimulation for each patient. If the therapy fails to provide satisfaction, it can be turned off or removed completely.
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