Purpose of review: Overactive bladder syndrome is a chronic condition characterized by urgency with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia. The usual urodynamic diagnosis is the presence of detrusor overactivity. Overactive bladder is a common condition that has a negative impact on the quality of life of the affected individuals. In this review we provide a summary of relevant recent publications concerning the effectiveness of oxybutynin, functional electrical stimulation and pelvic floor training alone or in combination for the management of this syndrome.
Recent findings: Oxybutynin, electrical stimulation and pelvic floor training are well tolerated and effective therapeutic options for overactive bladder. However, most patients do not achieve complete symptom relief with each therapy alone. Evidence for the efficacy of combination therapy over either treatment alone is scarce.
Summary: Future well designed randomized clinical trials are needed to determine whether combined drug and conservative treatments can improve clinical outcomes for patients with overactive bladder. Standardization of both the diagnostic criteria and exercise training programs might facilitate comparisons of the results obtained by different studies.