Materials and Methods
Between June 2016 and June 2020, a total of 27 patients who had a
history of traumatic SCI were admitted to our working group that
consisted of three urologists, a neurosurgeon, a neurologist, and a
physical therapy and rehabilitation specialist. All interventions in the
study were a matter of routine patient follow-up and compatible with the
declaration by the World Medical Association on the Ethical Principles
for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects.
All patients had a referral urodynamic study which was compatible with
detrusor overactivity despite regular use of an anticholinergic and
mirabegron. A Visual Analogue Score (VAS) was obtained to evaluate
concurrent neuropathic pain. A bladder diary comprising three
consecutive days was obtained from each patient during their initial
admission. After obtaining the diary, gabapentin (Neurontin, Pfizer
Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey) therapy was initiated with a dosage of 100
milligrams a day. The patients were scheduled with outpatient
appointments every 15 days, and the patients, or their caregivers, were
instructed to complete a new bladder diary for the three consecutive
days after each visit. Gabapentin dosage was further tailored due to the
response of the patient up to 800 milligrams a day. Patients who
responded to the gabapentin treatment were scheduled in regular yearly
urodynamic studies while unresponsive patients were evaluated with a new
urodynamic study and considered for Botulinum Toxin injections to the
bladder. Clinical data obtained from the urodynamic studies, the bladder
diaries, and the symptom scores before and after the gabapentin
treatment were collected and compared.
The Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were performed to evaluate whether the
interval data showed a parametric distribution. Therefore, interval data
is presented as mean (Standard Deviation (SD) and nominal data are
expressed as total numbers (n). Pre- and post-treatment findings were
compared using a two-tailed t -tests, p values smaller than 0.05
were deemed as significant.