Background Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a disease comprised of multiple symptoms, included persistent bladder pain syndrome (BPS), frequent urination, and urgency without getting infection or other identifiable causes. Methods In our study, 25 female patients diagnosed with IC/BPS, the patients were performed low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy (LI-ESWT) once a week for 8 weeks. The application sites for LI-ESWT are located above the pubic bone, in the middle and on both sides, with each session lasting about 20–30 min. High dosage of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections were administered in weeks 1, 5, and 9. All subjects had a baseline, 1-month and 6-month post-treatment assessment that included validated questionnaires and voiding diaries. Urodynamic studies were conducted at baseline and the 6-month follow-up after treatment. Results We observed an 80% efficacy rate. Then, we showed significant improvements in VAS, OABSS, UDI-6, IIQ-7, and POP at the 1-month follow-up. However, only the ICIQ showed significant improvement at the 6-month follow-up. We further examined the urodynamic parameters and MCC revealed significant difference at 6-month follow-up. The voiding diaries, which tracks the number of urinations, voided volume, maximum volume, and nocturia significant improved at 1-month follow-up while only maximum volume showed improvement at the 6-month follow-up. Finally, ICSI, ICPI, and OSS, all showed significant differences at both the 1-month and 6-month follow-ups. Conclusion The results of our study suggested that the combination treatment of PRP and LI-ESWT might show a therapeutic efficacy to IC/BPS patients, However, the follow-ups at 1 month and 6 months post-treatment suggested that the treatment needs to be administered again over time to maintain its effectiveness.
Long et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: