Extracorporeal magnetic innervation therapy for stress urinary incontinence

Objectives. To report the first data from a prospective clinical study to d etermine the feasibility of using extracorporeal magnetic innervation (ExMI ) for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. Methods. We studied 83 women with demonstrable stress urinary incontinence. Treatments were for 20 minutes, twice a week for 6 weeks. For treatment, t he patient sits fully clothed on a special chair; within the seat is a magn etic field generator that produces the rapidly changing magnetic field flux . Objective measures included bladder diaries, dynamic pad weight testing, urodynamic studies, and quality of life survey. Results. Fifty patients have been followed up for longer than 3 months (33 patients for less than 3 months); 17 patients (34%) were dry, 16 (32%) were using not more than 1 pad per day, and 17 (34%) were using more than 1 pad per day. Pad use was reduced from 2.5 to 1.3 (P = 0.001) and leak episodes per day were reduced from 3.3 to 1.7 (P = 0.001). The pad weight was reduc ed from 20 to 15 g. Detrusor instability was found in 5 patients before but was demonstrated in only 1 patient after treatment. Conclusions. ExMI therapy offers a new effective modality for pelvic floor muscle stimulation, ExMI is painless, there is no need for a probe, and no need to undress for treatments. Longer follow-up is required to determine h ow long the benefits of treatment last and whether retreatment will be nece ssary. UROLOGY 55: 1108-1111, 1999. (C) 1999, Elsevier Science Inc. All rig hts reserved.