Electrostimulation of the posterior tibial nerve in individuals with overactive bladder: a literature review

Abstract

[Purpose] This study aims to gather scientific evidence to identify whether clinical trials on Electrostimulation of the Posterior Tibial Nerve (ESPTN) in individuals with overactive bladder present an adequate methodological standard according to the PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) criteria. [Methods] Integral literature review, including randomized controlled clinical trials found in PEDro. [Results] We found 16 articles, of which only one did not meet the inclusion criteria. This article has shown that ESPTN is a conservative tool of physiotherapy that is less invasive than other therapies, is well tolerated by patients and has been shown to be effective in the treatment of overactive bladder. However, few standardized clinical studies have been conducted, and only 26.6% of the articles included in this review obtained a score of more than five items on the PEDro scale. [Conclusion] This article has shown that ESPTN is a conservative tool of physiotherapy that is less invasive than other therapies, is well tolerated by patients and has been shown to be effective in the treatment of overactive bladder. Thus, there is a need for more clinical articles that follow the quality criteria for randomized clinical trials, allowing more reliable scientific results.

Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation versus parasacral stimulation in the treatment of overactive bladder in elderly people: a triple-blinded randomized controlled trial

“…Future studies should take age range into account, and further studies are needed to determine which treatment model would achieve better results in the treatment of elderly people. The limitation of this study is the 8 sessions of treatment, since studies usually treat OAB volunteers for 12 weeks (18). Even so, the information that patients can benefit from a reduced number of sessions is important in terms of the costs of treatment.…”

Comparison of transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) protocols for women with refractory overactive bladder (OAB): A prospective randomised trial

“…6,7 The TTNS protocol is generally performed as weekly 30-min sessions for 12 weeks. 8 However, there are different protocols in the literature regarding the frequency of TTNS treatment. [9][10][11][12] There is only one study comparing the number of PTNS sessions in resistant OAB treatment.…”

“…Along with these advantages, it has been reported that its efficacy is similar to PTNS in the literature 6,7 . The TTNS protocol is generally performed as weekly 30‐min sessions for 12 weeks 8 . However, there are different protocols in the literature regarding the frequency of TTNS treatment 9‐12 …”

Different electrode positioning for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in the treatment of urgency in women: a study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…According to a systematic review [42] on scientific evidence of tibial nerve stimulation in individuals with OAB, one of the main findings was the poor methodological quality of the studies, which may interfere with its reliability and application in clinical practice, although the majority of sample numbers were considerable. The same authors [42] further discuss the need for better designed clinical trials on this therapy, which further strengthens the present investigation with this protocol.…”