Effectiveness of transperineal pelvic floor electrical stimulation system in improving female stress urinary incontinence: a prospective pilot study

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Transperineal Pelvic Floor Electrical Stimulation (TPFES) system as a treatment option for females with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). A total of 8 females who were diagnosed with SUI were included in the study. All the patients received TPFES and were educated to use it daily for 12 weeks. The patients completed ‘International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence (ICIQ-UI)’ and ‘Overactive Bladder Symptom Score Questionnaire’ before and after applying NPFES at every visit. Age, body mass index (BMI), maximum flow rate, and postvoid residual of each patient were obtained before the study. Repeated-measures ANOVA was performed using the estimates of variables at each visit to evaluate the effectiveness of TPFES in SUI. Also, a linear mixed model was derived to verify the variables that affect the effectiveness of TPFES treatment. The mean age and BMI of the patients were 61.88 ± 16.49 years and 24.62 ± 2.87 kg/m², respectively. Among the investigated variables, the mean ICIQ-UI total score showed significant change depending on the duration of TPFES treatment (p < 0.001); the mean ICIQ-UI total score tended to decrease as the duration of TPFES treatment increases. The post-hoc test revealed a significant decrease of mean ICIQ-UI total score at 8 weeks and 12 weeks compared to the baseline (p = 0.012 and p = 0.005, respectively). Also, the mean ICIQ-UI total score was significantly affected by the treatment duration of TPFES (p = 0.001). Thus, consistent and long-term use of the TPFES system can be a non-surgical treatment option that effectively improves SUI.