Aps. Kirkham et al., The acute effects of continuous and conditional neuromodulation on the bladder in spinal cord injury, SPINAL CORD, 39(8), 2001, pp. 420-428
Study design: Laboratory investigation using serial slow-fill cystometrogra
ms.
Objectives: To examine the acute effects of different modes of dorsal penil
e nerve stimulation on detrusor hyperreflexia, bladder capacity and bladder
compliance in spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting: Spinal Injuries Unit, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmor
e, Middlesex, UK.
Methods: Fourteen SCI patients were examined. Microtip transducer catheters
enabled continuous measurement of anal sphincter, urethral sphincter and i
ntravesical pressures. Control cystometrograms were followed by stimulation
of the dorsal penile nerve at 15 Hz, 200 mus pulse width and amplitude equ
al to twice that which produced a pudendo-anal reflex. Stimulation was eith
er continuous or in bursts of one minute triggered by a rise in detrusor pr
essure of 10 cm water (conditional). Further control cystometrograms were t
hen performed to examine the residual effects of stimulation.
Results: Bladder capacity increased significantly during three initial cont
rol fills. Continuous stimulation (n = 6) significantly increased bladder c
apacity by a mean of 110% ( Standard Deviation 85%) or 173 ml (+/- 146 ml),
and bladder compliance by a mean of 53% (+/- 31%). Conditional stimulation
in a different group of patients (n = 6) significantly increased bladder c
apacity, by 144% (+/- 127%) or 230 ml (+/- 143 ml). In the conditional neur
omodulation experiments, the gap between suppressed contractions fell relia
bly as bladder volume increased, and the time from start of stimulation to
peak of intravesical pressure and 50% decline in intravesical pressure rise
was 2.8 s (+/- 0.9 s) and 7.6 s (+/- 1.0s) respectively. The two methods o
f stimulation were compared in six patients; in four out of six conditional
neuromodulation resulted in a higher mean bladder capacity than continuous
, but the difference was not significant.
Conclusions: Both conditional and continuous stimulation significantly incr
ease bladder capacity. The conditional mode is probably at least as effecti
ve as the continuous, suggesting that it could be used in an implanted devi
ce for bladder suppression.