In a nutshell
This review compared the benefits and harms of different drugs used to treat urge incontinence.
Some background
Urge urinary incontinence (urine leakage associated with a strong need to urinate) can severely affect the quality of life of both men and women.
A variety of drugs are often prescribed to treat urge urinary incontinence. These include: fesoterodine (Toviaz), tolterodine (Detrol), oxybutynin (Ditropan), trospium (Sanctura) and solifenacin (Vesicare). Unfortunately, only a fraction of patients report good response to these medications.
Methods & findings
The review analyzed 94 trials investigating medications used to treat urge incontinence. Analysis of pooled data showed that patients receiving fesoterodine reported the most benefit, with 13% of those treated reporting restored urinary continence. In comparison, 11.4% of those treated with oxybutynin or trospium reported restored urinary continence. Only 10.7% of those treated with solifenacin and 8.5% of those treated with tolterodine reported similar results.
However, 3% of patients treated with fesoterodine chose to stop treatment due to side effects. Patients receiving oxybutynin reported the highest amount of side effects, with 6.3% of patients choosing to stop treatment. In comparison, less than 2% of patients receiving trospium or solifenacin stopped treatment due to side effects.
The bottom line
This study concluded that drugs for the treatment of urge urinary incontinence show small, yet similar, benefit. Drug choice should take into consideration the potential harms of treatment.
Published By :
Annals of internal medicine
Date :
Jun 19, 2012
