Intravesical instillation of hyaluronic acid prolonged the effect of bladder hydrodistention in patients with severe interstitial cystitis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of intravesical instillation of hyaluronic acid (HA) after hydrodistention for the treatment of patients with interstitial cystitis (IC) having small bladder capacity.

METHODS: A total of 47 patients with IC (aged 27-76 years) whose functional bladder capacity was less than 200 mL received bladder hydrodistention. Thereafter, 20 patients received intravesical instillation of 40 mg HA weekly in the first month and then monthly in the following 2 months. Sixteen patients received intravesical heparin instead and 11 patients received hydrodistention alone as the control. Mean voids per day, visual analog scale for pain, and functional bladder capacity were measured before hydrodistention and 3 and 6 months after hydrodistention in all 3 groups and 9 months after hydrodistention in HA and heparin groups.

RESULTS: Two patients in the HA group and 1 in the heparin group failed to complete the treatment. Three months after hydrodistention, there was no improvement in the control group. Six and 9 months after hydrodistention, rate of improvement was significantly higher in the HA group than in the heparin group (77.8% vs 33.3%, P < .05; 50% vs 20%, P < .05). At 9 months, heparin treatment did not show any improvement. Improvement in voids per day (-1.8 +/- 2.5, P < .01), visual analog scale (-0.9 +/- 1.1, P < .01), and bladder capacity (16 +/- 18 mL, P < .01) was still significant in the HA group.

CONCLUSIONS: Intravesical instillation of HA may obviously prolong the effect of bladder hydrodistention in patients with severe IC. Its effect was better than heparin.