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Electrical stimulation compared with tolterodine for treatment of urge/urge incontinence amongst women—a randomized controlled trial

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

Few randomized controlled trials have compared electrical stimulation treatment with drug therapy. Our hypothesis was that electrical stimulation treatment in women with urgency/urge incontinence would be more efficient compared to drug treatment.

Methods

Women ≥18 years of age with urgency/urge incontinence were randomized to receive either ten electrical stimulation treatments vaginally and transanally over a period of 5–7 weeks or tolterodine 4 mg orally once daily.

Results

Sixty-one women completed the study. There was no significant difference between the two treatment groups in micturition rate from baseline to 6 months, mean difference, −0.40 (95% confidence interval (CI), −1.61 to 0.82), but a clearly significant difference within each group for electrical stimulation, −2.8 (95% CI, −3.7 to −1.9), and for tolterodine, −3.2 (95% CI, −4.1 to −2.4).

Conclusions

Both treatments reduced the number of micturitions, but electrical stimulation was not found to be superior to tolterodine.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the help of statistician Anna-Maria Kling at Örebro University Hospital for help with the statistical analysis and the help of specialized nurse (Urotherapist) Vibeke Jonsson for collecting part of the data.

Conflicts of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

    Karin Franzén, Jan-Erik Johansson & Kerstin Nilsson

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Örebro University Hospital, 701 85, Örebro, Sweden

    Karin Franzén & Kerstin Nilsson

  3. Department of Urology, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden

    Jan-Erik Johansson

  4. Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology, Örebro County Council, Örebro, Sweden

    Jan-Erik Johansson & Kerstin Nilsson

  5. Department of Urology, Torsby Hospital, Torsby, Sweden

    Inger Lauridsen

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karlstad Hospital, Karlstad, Sweden

    Jill Canelid & Bengt Heiwall

Authors
  1. Karin Franzén
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  2. Jan-Erik Johansson
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  3. Inger Lauridsen
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  4. Jill Canelid
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  6. Kerstin Nilsson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kerstin Nilsson.

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Franzén, K., Johansson, JE., Lauridsen, I. et al. Electrical stimulation compared with tolterodine for treatment of urge/urge incontinence amongst women—a randomized controlled trial. Int Urogynecol J 21, 1517–1524 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-010-1213-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-010-1213-2

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