Clinical Trial Comparing Two Bladder Instillations for IC/BPS

Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Two Different Bladder Instillation Treatments for Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a condition that results in long-term bladder and pelvic pain. IC/BPS affects women more often than men. How the disorder develops is not completely known. Bladder instillation is a commonly used treatment in which a mixture of different ingredients are passed into the bladder to help IC/BPS symptoms. There is room to learn more about bladder instillations and which ingredients in them work best. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of a bladder instillation that contains a steroid (triamcinolone acetonide) to a bladder instillation that does not contain a steroid to treat IC/BPS in women. The study hypothesis is that women with IC/BPS treated with bladder instillations that contain a steroid will have improved outcomes compared to women treated with bladder instillations that do not contain a steroid.

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a chronic pain disorder involving the genitourinary tract. IC/BPS disproportionately affects women with over 80% of patients with IC/BPS as female. Like other chronic pain conditions, IC/BPS is physically and emotionally taxing on patients. IC/BPS costs the United States over $100 million annually due to direct healthcare costs and loss of worker productivity. The exact pathophysiology of the disease is unknown, leading to a limitation in our ability to treat the disorder effectively. The current leading etiologic theory is that IC/BPS is a neurologically-derived chronic systemic pain syndrome due to its association with musculoskeletal pelvic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia. Although several options exist to treat IC/BPS, therapeutic effects are often transient. Previous studies in chronic pain disorders have shown that multimodal treatment is more effective than single-agent treatment, so future therapy should aim to augment rather than replace current treatments. Bladder instillation is a commonly used treatment in which a mixture of different agents is instilled into the bladder to improve IC/BPS symptoms. The data on the efficacy of bladder instillations, as well as which ingredients in the mixture are effective, are limited. Small studies have shown the potential of steroids in decreasing IC/BPS; the mechanism of action is hypothesized to be due to decrease inflammation in the bladders of these patients. The knowledge gap that exists is the necessity of a steroid in the bladder instillation treatment for IC/BPS symptoms especially since this tends to be the most expensive ingredient. To evaluate the utility of a steroid in the bladder instillation treatment of IC/BPS, we propose a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial that will compare the efficacy of bladder instillations with and without triamcinolone acetonide on IC/BPS symptoms in women. We hypothesize that the addition of triamcinolone acetonide in bladder instillation therapy will result in a more robust treatment response than bladder instillations without triamcinolone acetonide. Our rationale is based on 1) the results of small studies that showed improvement of IC/BPS symptoms with use of a steroid and 2) the hypothesized mechanism of action of steroids decreasing inflammation in the bladder.

Interstitial cystitis, Bladder pain syndrome, IC/BPS, Women, Pelvic pain, Urologic pain, Bladder instillation, Kenalog, Steroid

Six weekly bladder instillations of standard cocktail plus triamcinolone acetonide. Standard cocktail= heparin (10,000 units), 2% viscous lidocaine (10 mL), 8.4% sodium bicarbonate (15 mL of 1 mEq/mL), and 0.5% bupivacaine (10 mL of 5 mg/mL) plus triamcinolone acetonide (1 vial, 40 milligrams (mg)/1 milliliters (mL).

Six weekly bladder instillations of standard cocktail without triamcinolone acetonide. Standard cocktail= heparin (10,000 units), 2% viscous lidocaine (10 mL), 8.4% sodium bicarbonate (15 mL of 1 mEq/mL), and 0.5% bupivacaine (10 mL of 5 mg/mL).

Bladder instillation mixture of heparin (10,000 units), 2% viscous lidocaine (10 mL), 8.4% sodium bicarbonate (15 mL of 1 mEq/mL), 0.5% bupivacaine (10 mL of 5 mg/mL) plus triamcinolone acetonide (1 vial, 40 milligrams (mg)/1 milliliters (mL).

Bladder instillation mixture of heparin (10,000 units), 2% viscous lidocaine (10 mL), 8.4% sodium bicarbonate (15 mL of 1 mEq/mL), and 0.5% bupivacaine (10 mL of 5 mg/mL).

Change From Baseline in Treatment Response as Measured by the Total Score on the O'Leary-Sant Questionnaire

Total scores range: 0-100 (higher scores on the symptom-severity scale suggestive of greater severity of symptoms and higher scores on the quality-of-life scale suggestive of better quality of life)

20 question self-administered questionnaire on the presence and absence of pelvic floor symptoms. Score ranges from 0 (least distress) to 300 (most distress).

Sexual Function Measured by the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire, IUGA-Revised (PISQ-IR) Questionnaire

Measures sexual function in women with pelvic floor disorders. Queries about arousal, orgasm, partner-related issues, sexual quality, and desire. The tool also takes into account those who are not sexually active. The questionnaire was used in the study solely to determine if patients had improved dyspareunia (as a categorical variable).

VAS is measured on marking on a 10-centimeter (cm) ruler (measured in cm, 0= no pain and 10= most severe pain possible)

Inclusion Criteria: Women 18 years and older Women with IC/BPS who have a score of ≥ 6 on either index (problem or symptom index) of the O'Leary-Sant questionnaire who have selected bladder instillations as part of their IC/BPS treatment Suitability for follow-up Exclusion Criteria: Contraindications and/or allergies to the ingredients used in the bladder instillations Diagnosis of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Does not desire to undergo bladder instillation therapy or unwilling to undergo bladder instillation therapy on schedule mandated by study Have a known alternative diagnosis explaining bladder pain symptoms that would preclude the diagnosis of IC/BPS (e.g. radiation cystitis, active urinary tract infection with bacteria or fungus treated within last 2 weeks or diagnosed at index visit, bladder injury or trauma within the last 30 days) Inability to speak or read English Bladder instillation within the past 4 weeks

De-identified raw data and other supporting materials will be made available to approved investigators. Email requests to olivia.cardenas-trowers@louisville.edu.

Available to investigators whose proposed use of the data is for individual participant data meta-analysis and has been approved by an independent review committee for this purpose. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.

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