Does Botox Help a Neurogenic Bladder?

Urinary incontinence is a common condition and can potentially impair social, physical, and mental well-being.

Approximately 17 percent of women and 3 to 11 percent of men suffer from urge incontinence at some point in their lives.

1. Preferable treatment before surgery
2. Reduces the discomfort of taking a pill every day
3. Relief of symptoms for at least six months (prolonged effect)
4. Long duration of action
5. An alternative to anticholinergic and ant muscarinic medications
6. Improves quality of life

Botox is a drug prepared from botulinum A toxin, which is derived from a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum and is responsible for causing botulism (a type of food poisoning).

This bacterium is mostly found in lakes, soils, and forests, the intestinal tracts of fish and mammals, and the organs and gills of crabs and shellfish.

Botox is safe when used in small amounts for medical purposes.

Botox treatment decreases incontinence and improves the quality of life.

Botox works by:

• Temporarily paralyzing the bladder muscle
• Preventing signals from the nerve cells from reaching the muscles
• Prevents the release of acetylcholine (a chemical messenger), thus preventing muscle contractions
• Calm the nerves by blocking the signals that trigger incontinence
• Increases bladder capacity
• Decreases detrusor (a type of muscle in the urinary bladder) pressure

Botox is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for:

• Urinary incontinence due to aging
• Overactive bladder
• Spastic neuropathic bladder from neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease
• Spinal cord injury with neurogenic detrusor overactivity

One day before Botox treatment, an antibiotic is administered to reduce the risk of urinary tract infection (UTI).

Botox is administered under general anesthesia or sedation and after performing a cystoscopy, wherein a cystoscope is inserted into the bladder through the urethra.

An intradetrusor (into the bladder muscle) injection of Botox is administered in small concentrations through the cystoscope, which can take up to 24 to 72 hours to be effective.

The effects last for approximately six months, after which re-injection is needed.

For most people, Botox is well-tolerated.

Other than short-term discomfort, the most reported side effects include:

1. Urinary tract infection
2. Fatigue
3. Pain while passing the urine
4. Difficulty urinating
5. Urinary retention
6. Hematuria (blood in the urine)