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About interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome
Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (commonly abbreviated to "IC/PBS"), is a urinary bladder disease of unknown cause characterised by pain associated with urination (dysuria), urinary frequency (as often as every 10 minutes), urgency, and pressure in the bladder and/or pelvis. Pain that worsened with a certain food or drink and/or worsened with bladder filling and/or improved with urination was reported by 97% of patients. Patients may also experience nocturia, pelvic floor dysfunction and tension (thus making it difficult to start their urine stream), pain with sexual intercourse, and discomfort and difficulty driving, traveling or working. Research has claimed that the quality of life of some IC patients is equivalent to those with end stage renal failure.
It is not unusual for patients to have been misdiagnosed with a variety of other conditions, including: overactive bladder, urethritis, urethral syndrome, trigonitis, prostatitis and other generic terms used to describe frequency/urgency symptoms in the urinary tract.
IC/PBS affects men and women of all cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and ages. Although the disease previously was believed to be a condition of menopausal women, growing numbers of men and women are being diagnosed in their twenties and younger. IC/PBS is not a rare condition, however IC/PBS is more common in females than in men. Early research suggested that IC/PBS prevalence ranged from 1 in 100,000 to 5.1 in 1,000 of the general population. Up to 12% of women may have early symptoms of IC/PBS.
Other articles from the section: Interstitial cystitis
Treatment - medication (pentosan polysulfate)
Oral pentosan polysulfate (Elmiron) is believed to provide a protective coating in the bladder, but studies show it is not statistically significant compared to placebo. However, some studies have found that a minority of patients do respond to pentosan polysulfate.Section: Interstitial cystitis
Treatment - medication (bladder coatings)
Other bladder coating therapies include Cystistat (sodium hyaluronate) and Uracyst (chondroitin). They are believed to replace the deficient GAG layer on the bladder wall. Like most other intravesical bladder treatments, this treatment may require the patient to lie for 20 - 40 minutes, turning over every ten minutes, to allow the chemical to 'soak in' and give a good coating, before it is passed out with the urine.Section: Interstitial cystitis
Treatment - surgery
Surgical interventions are rarely used for IC/PBS. Surgical intervention is very unpredicatable for IC/PBS, and is considered a treatment of last resort when all other treatment modalities have failed and pain is severe. Some patients who opt for surgical intervention continue to experience pain after surgery. Surgical interventions for IC/PBS include transurethral fulguration and resection of ulcers, using ...Section: Interstitial cystitis