An evaluation of the efficacy of in-patient bladder retraining

This is a retrospective review of 50 consecutive patients with urinary freq uency, urgency and urge incontinence, admitted in 1995 and early 1996 for b ladder retraining in the form of timed voiding. At discharge 80% of the wom en were subjectively cured or satisfactorily improved, but this was signifi cantly reduced to 32% of the 37 who replied to a postal survey between 12 a nd 29 months (mean interval 21.3 months) later. There were no significant a ssociations between outcome and urodynamic diagnosis, reduced cystometric c apacity, length of symptomatology, previous treatment or requirement for ad ditional therapy, but this may have been in part due to small numbers. Ln c onclusion, bladder retraining is a method of treatment for patients with bo th sensory urgency and detrusor instability which appears to be at least as successful as other modes of treatment for these conditions.