Satisfaction with Detrusor OnabotulinumtoxinA Injections and Conversion to Other Bladder Management in Patients with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

This study investigated the satisfaction with continued detrusor Botox injections for urinary incontinence and conversion to other surgical procedures and bladder management procedures for neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO) in patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). A total of 223 patients with chronic SCI underwent detrusor Botox 200U for urodynamically confirmed NDO and urinary incontinence. After initial detrusor Botox injections, patients opted to either continue detrusor Botox injections every six to nine months and on clean intermittent catheterization (CIC), switch to other bladder management procedures, or receive surgical procedures to improve their urinary incontinence, correct emergent complications, or have better voiding conditions without CIC. Urinary incontinence improvement rates and satisfaction with bladder management were assessed and compared between different subgroups, urodynamic parameters, and bladder management procedures. Finally, a total of 154 male and 69 female patients were included, among whom 56 (25.1%), 81 (36.3%), 51 (22.9%), and 35 (15.7%) showed a marked, moderate, mild, and no reduction in urinary incontinence, respectively. However, only 48.4% of the patients continued detrusor Botox injections over the mean follow-up period of seven years. Patients with cervical or thoracic SCI had fair incontinence improvement rates. The presence of high detrusor pressure and higher-grade bladder outlet resistance also predicted a decrease in incontinence. Although more than 50% of the patients switched to other bladder management procedures or received surgical treatment, 69.1% expressed satisfaction with their current status. This large cohort of patients with chronic SCI who received initial detrusor Botox injections revealed that only 48.4% continued with Botox injections. Those who received surgical procedures due to urological complications or demanded change in bladder management could achieve high satisfaction rates.