Overactive Bladder Medications
For many years, only two
overactive bladder medicines were approved to treat overactive bladder:
In 2004, the FDA approved three more drugs for overactive bladder:
All of these overactive bladder medications come in pill form, and oxybutynin is also available as a skin patch.
All five drugs work in essentially the same way: to decrease urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence. They block the nerve impulses to the bladder that cause it to contract and leak. Side effects of the drugs can include:
Electrical Stimulation Devices to Treat Overactive Bladder
Some men and women with overactive bladder benefit from electrical stimulation devices, which help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Mild, painless electrical pulses are sent to these muscles through electrodes, which are temporarily placed in the rectum or vagina.
Overactive Bladder Treatment: Implanted Devices
When men or women with overactive bladder have failed to respond to more conservative overactive bladder treatment, an electrical stimulation device can be placed next to the tailbone.
This overactive bladder treatment requires a trial period, in which a doctor surgically implants a temporary electrode in the lower back. The temporary electrode is attached by a thin wire, called a lead, to an external stimulation device, which patients carry with them for a few days. The device sends mild electrical pulses to the nerve that controls the bladder and surrounding muscles.
If there is dramatic improvement, then the device is permanently implanted at a second outpatient surgery, leaving all hardware under the skin.
In clinical studies, more than one-third of the patients did not receive the implanted device, typically because they did not have significant improvement during the trial period.
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