Transurethral Fulguration Alleviates Pelvic Pain in Interstitial Cystitis

MONDAY, May 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with interstitial cystitis (IC), transurethral fulguration (TUF) is effective for alleviating pelvic pain, according to a study published online April 3 in Neurourology and Urodynamics.

Hyun Ju Jeong, from the Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic medical records of patients with IC who visited outpatient clinics with pelvic pain. Cystoscopic surgery based on TUF for bladder ulcers was used to manage pain; intractable pelvic pain was treated with cystectomy.

Overall, 240 of 275 patients underwent initial cystoscopic surgery; the mean number of TUF procedures was 1.0 during a median follow-up of 21.0 months. The researchers found that 71 of the 240 patients (29.6 percent) did not require further surgical treatment, while 26.7 percent required a second TUF for recurrent pelvic pain, with a median recurrence interval of 12.0 months. Fifteen of the 64 patients who received a second TUF (23.4 percent) underwent a third TUF after a median of 12.0 months. Five of the 15 patients who received a third TUF underwent a fourth TUF due to pain recurrence. One patient received a seventh TUF. Pain control with TUF was achieved by 168 of the 240 patients (70.0 percent). Eighteen (7.5 percent) of the patients underwent cystectomy.

“Our study results showed that TUF‐based cystoscopic surgery is an effective basic treatment for pelvic pain management in patients with IC,” the authors write.

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