Pudendal nerve stimulation study reports short-term bladder improvements

A multicenter study in October's European Urology Open Science compares electrical pudendal nerve stimulation with a standard sacral-neuromodulation test phase in 70 adults with chronic neurogenic urinary retention.

After four weeks, the adjusted improvement in residual urine volume was 68% in the pudendal-stimulation group and 51% in the comparison group. Patient-reported symptoms and quality-of-life measures also favored the outpatient approach.

Treatment allocation was not randomized, and follow-up was short. The study supports further evaluation of a less invasive first step, but those design limits prevent a firm conclusion about comparative effectiveness or durable benefit.