Approximately 30 million Americans suffer from urinary frequency or urge incontinence. Urge incontinence is associated with a strong desire to urinate with little warning or time to reach a bathroom.
"People who suffer from this disorder may have to urinate dozens of times a day, often causing them to rarely leave their homes," says Craig Comiter, MD, chief, Section of Urology, and principal investigator for the study. "Current non-surgical treatments for urinary incontinence include medication and diet control, but are only effective in about half of the cases," he said.
Surgical options include traditional neurostimulators, which act as bladder "pacemakers," delivering an electrical impulse to a nearby nerve to relieve the sudden and sometimes uncontrollable urge to urinate. Implantation of these devices involves a one- to two-week test of a temporary externalized wire attached to a battery-operated pulse generator worn on the belt. Definitive surgical implantation involves placement of a battery-powered pulse generator, which may result in a prominent bulge under the patient's skin.
The UA is the only site in Arizona participating in a multi-center clinical trial to evaluate a new miniature device about the size of a matchstick. The bion microstimulator, manufactured by Advanced Bionics Corp, is designed to treat urgency, urinary frequency and urge incontinence through direct electrical stimulation. The small size of the device (less than 1 inch long and ¼ inch wide) allows for sutureless implantation, leaving no visible scar.
The microstimulator bion is implanted under the skin near the pelvis and adjacent to the pudenal nerve, the nerve near the tailbone that influences bladder control muscles. The battery-operated device uses a small amount of electrical current to stimulate the nerve, increasing urine capacity in patients with overactive bladders that have not responded to other treatments.
The clinical trial is a one-year study of 20 patients. There is no cost to patients who qualify for the trial. For more information about this study, contact Cameo Kjose, research specialist, at (520) 626-0033.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: A patient who has been implanted with the bion microstimulator is available for interviews. Interviews can be arranged by calling Jo Marie Gellerman, 626-7219.
