Intravesical Non-Alkalinized Lidocaine Instillation for Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Patients

Purpose: The effectiveness of daily or weekly instillation of non-alkalinized lidocaine for patients suffering interstitial cystitis and/or bladder pain syndrome was evaluated retrospectively. Patients and Methods: Five female patients (40 71 years old) diagnosed as interstitial cystitis by cystoscopic findings and a 68-year-old bladder pain syndrome patient were enrolled. All patients, having interstitial cystitis, had undergone hydrodistention therapy previously and had not improved their symptoms by empirical therapies. Daily or weekly (upon their severity of symptoms) intravesical instillation of 20 ml of 4% non-alkalinized (pH 6.0 7.0) lidocaine solution was performed for several times, and patients were asked to keep them in the bladder as long as two hours each time. Previous medications such as anti-cholinergic drugs and analgesics were continued according to patient’s requirements and symptoms. The treatment effect was evaluated comparing O’Leary-Sant Symptom Index for interstitial cystitis patients and visual analog pain scale before and after the series of lidocaine therapies. Results: Instillation was made 6 to 16 times. Patients with interstitial cystitis improved their symptoms from O’Leary-Sant Symptom Index 17.5 to 10, Problem Index from 14.8 to 6 in an average. Crouching pain disappeared in all these patients after the instillation therapy. Severe interstitial cystitis findings on cystoscopy disappeared completely in one patient after the therapy. One patient having bladder pain syndrome reduced her analgesics use, and bladder-filling pain decreased from 7 to 3 as a visual analog scale score. One patient complained palpitation at 11th instillation and abandoned treatment thereafter, otherwise, none of these patients showed side effect concerning lidocaine toxicity. Conclusions: Intravesical non-alkalinized lidocaine instillation therapy for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome patients were an easy, safe and effective treatment.