[Multicentric prospective randomized study evaluating the interest of intravaginal electro-stimulation at home for urinary incontinence after prior perineal reeducation. Interim analysis]

Prospective evaluation of the connected biofeedback EMY Kegel trainer in the management of stress urinary incontinence

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the quality of life with the connected biofeedback EMY Kegel trainer in patients suffering from stress urinary incontinence. Materiel and methods: This was a prospective, single-center, non-comparative study, which took place between September 2019 and October 2020, in the University Hospitals of Strasbourg. Eligible patients were instructed to use the EMY probe for a minimum of 10 min per day for five days per week. To assess quality of life and urinary symptoms, the Contilife and ICIQ-SF scores were completed each month until the final visit (M3). The PGI-I was also completed at 3 months to assess the benefit of the EMY Kegel Trainer.

RESULTS

A total of 55 patients were included. At the inclusion visit (M0), the mean Contilife and ICIQ-SF scores were respectively at 6.6 ± 1.5 and 10.5 ± 3.0 points. At the final visit (M3), the mean Contilife score increased to 9.2 ± 1.0, indicating an improvement in quality of life. The mean ICIQ-SF score decreased to 4.2 ± 4.0, indicating an improvement in urinary symptoms. The PGI-I questionnaire identified a positive assessement of the EMY Kegel trainer. On the 55 patients included, 35 (64%) reported completing at least 36 sessions during the study, i.e. an average of 3 sessions per week.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that perineal rehabilitation by biofeedback using the EMY Kegel trainer might be beneficial.

Electrical stimulation with non-implanted devices for stress urinary incontinence in women

BACKGROUND

Several treatment options are available for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), including pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), drug therapy and surgery. Problems exist such as adherence to PFMT regimens, side effects linked to drug therapy and the risks associated with surgery. We have evaluated an alternative treatment, electrical stimulation (ES) with non-implanted devices, which aims to improve pelvic floor muscle function to reduce involuntary urine loss.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of electrical stimulation with non-implanted devices, alone or in combination with other treatment, for managing stress urinary incontinence or stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence in women. Among the outcomes examined were costs and cost-effectiveness.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Incontinence Specialised Register, which contains trials identified from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, MEDLINE Epub Ahead of Print, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO ICTRP and handsearches of journals and conference proceedings (searched 27 February 2017). We also searched the reference lists of relevant articles and undertook separate searches to identify studies examining economic data.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials of ES with non-implanted devices compared with any other treatment for SUI in women. Eligible trials included adult women with SUI or stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence (MUI). We excluded studies of women with urgency-predominant MUI, urgency urinary incontinence only, or incontinence associated with a neurologic condition. We would have included economic evaluations had they been conducted alongside eligible trials.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently screened search results, extracted data from eligible trials and assessed risk of bias, using the Cochrane 'Risk of bias' tool. We would have performed economic evaluations using the approach recommended by Cochrane Economic Methods.

MAIN RESULTS

We identified 56 eligible trials (3781 randomised participants). Eighteen trials did not report the primary outcomes of subjective cure, improvement of SUI or incontinence-specific quality of life (QoL). The risk of bias was generally unclear, as most trials provided little detail when reporting their methods. We assessed 25% of the included trials as being at high risk of bias for a variety of reasons, including industry funding and baseline differences between groups. We did not identify any economic evaluations.For subjective cure of SUI, we found moderate-quality evidence that ES is probably better than no active treatment (risk ratio (RR) 2.31, 95% CI 1.06 to 5.02). We found a similar result for cure or improvement of SUI (RR 1.73, 95% CI 1.41 to 2.11), but the quality of evidence was lower. We are very uncertain if there is a difference between ES and sham treatment in terms of subjective cure because of the very low quality of evidence (RR 2.21, 95% CI 0.38 to 12.73). For subjective cure or improvement, ES may be better than sham treatment (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.02 to 4.07). The effect estimate was 660/1000 women cured/improved with ES compared to 382/1000 with no active treatment (95% CI 538 to 805 women); and for sham treatment, 402/1000 women cured/improved with ES compared to 198/1000 with sham treatment (95% CI 202 to 805 women).Low-quality evidence suggests that there may be no difference in cure or improvement for ES versus PFMT (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.03), PFMT plus ES versus PFMT alone (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.28) or ES versus vaginal cones (RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.21).Electrical stimulation probably improves incontinence-specific QoL compared to no treatment (moderate quality evidence) but there may be little or no difference between electrical stimulation and PFMT (low quality evidence). It is uncertain whether adding electrical stimulation to PFMT makes any difference in terms of quality of life, compared with PFMT alone (very low quality evidence). There may be little or no difference between electrical stimulation and vaginal cones in improving incontinence-specific QoL (low quality evidence). The impact of electrical stimulation on subjective cure/improvement and incontinence-specific QoL, compared with vaginal cones, PFMT plus vaginal cones, or drugs therapy, is uncertain (very low quality evidence).In terms of subjective cure/improvement and incontinence-specific QoL, the available evidence comparing ES versus drug therapy or PFMT plus vaginal cones was very low quality and inconclusive. Similarly, comparisons of different types of ES to each other and of ES plus surgery to surgery are also inconclusive in terms of subjective cure/improvement and incontinence-specific QoL (very low-quality evidence).Adverse effects were rare: in total nine of the women treated with ES in the trials reported an adverse effect. We identified insufficient evidence to compare the risk of adverse effects in women treated with ES compared to any other treatment. We were unable to identify any economic data.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The current evidence base indicated that electrical stimulation is probably more effective than no active or sham treatment, but it is not possible to say whether ES is similar to PFMT or other active treatments in effectiveness or not. Overall, the quality of the evidence was too low to provide reliable results. Without sufficiently powered trials measuring clinically important outcomes, such as subjective assessment of urinary incontinence, we cannot draw robust conclusions about the overall effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of electrical stimulation for stress urinary incontinence in women.

[Multicentric prospective randomized and controlled study assessing effectiveness of intravaginal electrostimulation at home compared to usual care in female patients with urinary incontinence and prior perineal reeducation]

OBJECTIVES

In order to maintain the benefits of perineal reeducation, patients with stress urinary incontinence need to perform self-retraining exercises of the perineal muscles at home. The aim of this randomized prospective multicentric study is to assess the effectiveness of GYNEFFIK(®), a perineal electrostimulator, during this home-care phase.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Two parallel groups of women with stress urinary incontinence (UI) or with mixed UI (composed predominantly of stress UI), improved by physiotherapy, have followed a self-reeducation program, either with electrostimulation sessions (GYNEFFIK(®) or home perineal electrostimulation [HPES] arm) or with usual care (UC) only, without electrostimulation. The comparison of the two groups was based on the rate of women in which the benefit of the initial perineal reeducation was maintained (defined as the ICIQ and Ditrovie scales' score not worsening) at 2, 4 and 6 months.

RESULTS

A total of 161 patients were analyzed (76 in the HPES arm and 85 in the UC arm). The therapeutic benefit of the initial perineal reeducation at the last available measure (6 months for a wide majority of patients) was maintained in 81.6% in the HPES arm versus 62.4% in the UC arm (P=0.007). This significant difference reflects a significant improvement both in clinical symptomatology and in quality of life. ICIQ score was improved in 44% of patients of HPES arm while it was improved in 14% of patients of UC arm (P<0.001) and daily number of urine leakage decreased of 1.2 leakage in the HPES arm versus 0.1 leakage in UC arm (P<0.05). Likewise, improvement of quality of life was superior in the HPES arm (48% improvement of Ditrovie score versus 19% in the UC group ; P<0.05).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Investigator global impression was more favorable in the HPES arm (clinical improvement in 83% of patients versus 68% in the UC arm). At the last measure (i.e. endpoint), the benefit of initial physiotherapy was considered maintained or improved in all patients of the HPES arm while it was reported as worsened in 16.5% of the UC group. Using GYNEFFIK(®) favorably impacts quality of life, particularly physical activity and vitality and decreases emotional consequences of UI (i.e. anxiety and depression score as assessed by HAD scale).