Efficacy of Percutaneous vs Transcutaneous Posterior Tibial Nerve Stimulation in Overactive Bladder Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction: Overactive bladder (OAB) is a symptom syndrome consisting of urgency, frequency, and nocturia. It is a common urologic disorder. Percutaneous posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) is a minimally invasive, well-tolerated, and effective treatment of OAB. Recently, transcutaneous PTN stimulation (TTNS) with surface electrodes has been used, which is non-invasive. This study examines and compares the efficacy of these two therapy methods. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 44 patients with OAB were randomly assigned to PTNS and TTNS groups. In both groups, the therapeutic interventions were performed thrice a week for four weeks, 12 sessions. Incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL) and OAB symptom score (OABSS) were evaluated before the intervention, then one week and four weeks after completing the sessions. Results: Of 44 patients (41 females and 3 males), the mean age of the subjects was 51.95 years in the PTNS group and 56.86 years in the TTNS group (P=0.9). In our study, the patients' urinary symptoms and QOL improved in both groups over time. Both interventions had no significant difference (P=0.796, P=0.372, respectively). Conclusion: PTNS and TTNS effectively improved patients' symptoms of OAB and their QOL. TTNS can be considered as effective as conventional PTNS and a less invasive alternative for PTNS in OAB treatment.