Urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome

Therapeutic interventions to urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome and UPOINT system for clinical phenotyping: How far are we?

The assessment and management of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS), is controversial. It is classified by voiding symptoms, pelvic pain, and bladder pain, which is weekly treated, weekly understood, and bothersome. In the aspect of clinical efforts and research to help people with this syndrome have been hampered by the deficiency of a widely reliable, accepted, and a valuable tool to evaluate the patient symptoms and quality of life (QoL) impact. However, the etiology comes into sight is multifactorial, and available treatment options have been imprecise considerably in present years. We compiled the published literature on the assessment of the syndrome, a tentative role of pharmacological and non-pharmacological (conservative, alternative, and invasive therapy) interventions in eradicating the disease as well as improving symptoms. The previously published literature on animal models has established the association of immune systems in the etiology, pathogenesis, and progression of the disease. The UPOINT system for clinical phenotyping of UCPPS patients has six predefined domains that direct multimodal therapy, which would lead to significant symptom improvement in the medical field. The narrative review aims to scrutinize the fluctuating scientist's views on the evaluation of patient and multimodal treatment of the UPOINT system.

The short-term efficacy of electrical pudendal nerve stimulation versus intravesical instillation for the urethral pain syndrome: a randomized clinical trial

PURPOSE

Urethral pain syndrome is a chronic condition characterized by disturbing feeling or server pain sensed at the urethra without specific treatment. This double-center, two-arm controlled trial aimed to explore the efficacy of electrical pudendal nerve stimulation (EPNS) versus intravesical instillation (II) of heparin and alkalinized lidocaine for urethral pain syndrome (UPS).

METHODS

Eighty eligible patients took three sessions of EPNS, or 1 session of II per week, for 6 consecutive weeks. The primary end point was the change of pelvic pain and urgency/frequency symptom (PUF) score from baseline to week 6. Secondary outcome measures included changes of visual analogue scale (VAS) score and three sub-score extracted from PUF score.

RESULTS

The enrolled participants were all included in the intention-to-treat analyses, and baseline characteristics between the two groups were well balanced. The post-treatment PUF score decreased by 10.0 (7.00, 16.50) in the EPNS group, and by 7.0 (3.00, 10.00) in the II group. At the closure of treatment, the medians of changes in symptom score, bother score, pain-related score and VAS score were 6.50 (4.25, 10.00), 4.00 (2.00, 6.00), 6.00 (5.00, 8.00),4.50 (2.25, 6.00), respectively, in the EPNS group, and 4.00 (2.00, 7.00), 3.00 (1.00, 3.00), 3.00 (2.00, 6.00), 2.00 (1.00, 4.00), respectively, in the II group. All the between-group differences were statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Compared with the II, the EPNS results in superior pain control and better relief of lower urinary tract symptoms, and deserves further attention.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03671993).

Urothelial signaling

The urothelium, which lines the inner surface of the renal pelvis, the ureters, and the urinary bladder, not only forms a high-resistance barrier to ion, solute and water flux, and pathogens, but also functions as an integral part of a sensory web which receives, amplifies, and transmits information about its external milieu. Urothelial cells have the ability to sense changes in their extracellular environment, and respond to chemical, mechanical and thermal stimuli by releasing various factors such as ATP, nitric oxide, and acetylcholine. They express a variety of receptors and ion channels, including P2X3 purinergic receptors, nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, and TRP channels, which all have been implicated in urothelial-neuronal interactions, and involved in signals that via components in the underlying lamina propria, such as interstitial cells, can be amplified and conveyed to nerves, detrusor muscle cells, and ultimately the central nervous system. The specialized anatomy of the urothelium and underlying structures, and the possible communication mechanisms from urothelial cells to various cell types within the bladder wall are described. Changes in the urothelium/lamina propria ("mucosa") produced by different bladder disorders are discussed, as well as the mucosa as a target for therapeutic interventions.