Open Access

ARTICLE

Amniotic bladder therapy: six-month follow up treating interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome

Jack Considine¹, Kyle O'Hollaren¹, Codrut Radoiu¹, Raghav Madan¹, Aron Liaw^1,2, Nivedita Dhar^2,3

1 Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA
2 John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA
3 Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Address correspondence to Dr. Nivedita Dhar, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, 4646 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201 USA

Canadian Journal of Urology 2024, 31(3), 11898-11903.

Abstract

Introduction: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is characterized by chronic pelvic pain and usually accompanies lower urinary tract symptoms. We have previously reported that amniotic bladder therapy (ABT) provides symptomatic improvement in refractory IC/BPS patients for up to 3 months. Herein, we evaluated the durability of ABT up to 6 months.
Materials and methods: Consecutive IC/BPS patients received intra-detrusor injections of 100 mg micronized amniotic membrane. Clinical evaluation and patient reported outcome measurements including Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index (ICSI), Interstitial Cystitis Problem Index (ICPI), Bladder Pain/ Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Score (BPIC-SS) and Overactive Bladder Assessment Tool (OAB) were assessed.
Results: Twenty-five consecutive recalcitrant IC/BPS patients were included in the study with an average age of 47.4 ± 14.4 years (29-67 years). After ABT, the IC/ BPS symptoms improved gradually up to 3 months in all patients with an average improvement in ICSI, ICPI, BPIC-SS and OAB score of 72.8%, 71.9%, and 66.6%, (p < 0.001) respectively, at 3 months. At 4 months after ABT, 7 patients experienced a rebound in symptoms and requested another injection which resulted in a significant improvement in IC/BPS symptoms after 2, 4, and 8 weeks (p < 0.01). For the 18 patients who received only one injection, the IC/BPS symptoms were still significantly lower at 5 and 6 months compared to baseline (p < 0.01), suggesting a possible durable effect based on the ICSI, ICPI, BPIC-SS, and OAB questionnaire scores.
Conclusions: ABT provided an improvement in pain and lower urinary tract symptoms up to 6 months post treatment in some refractory IC/BPS patients.

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