Objectives: Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a poorly diagnosed condition that produces chronic and painful symptoms that affect the sufferer’s quality of life. This article reports on the outcomes and trends of patients who received an intravesical cocktail injection of triamcinolone (steroid), gentamycin, and bupivacaine for symptom control in interstitial cystitis over a 5-year period. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 408 patients with Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome who were treated with an intravesical cocktail injection (triamcinolone, gentamicin, and bupivacaine) over a 5-year period (Jan 2015 – Dec 2019). All patients had been diagnosed with IC/BPS and had received first-line treatment as per the American Urology Association IC/BPS Guidelines. The age of the patients, the number of treatments, and the duration between each treatment were analysed using Spearman’s rho analysis. Results: In our cohort of patients, 264 patients (64.7%) responded well to just one intravesical cocktail therapy, 93 patients (22.7%) required two treatments, and 51 patients (12.5%) required 3 or more treatments for their symptom control. The longest interval between treatment delivery was between the first and second dose, an average of 328.2 days. A trend of sequentially shorter intervals between injections was demonstrated in those patients who required more than one therapeutic injection. Conclusions: The majority of the cohort patients, 87.5%, responded well and found sufficient symptom relief from just one or two intravesical injections. However, patients who required repeated injections received them at progressively shorter intervals, signifying poor efficacy of symptom control in this subset of patients.
Addressing quality of life in the patient with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome
