Long-term results of intravesical hyaluronan therapy in bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis

While the short-term efficacy of intravesical hyaluronan for bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) has been demonstrated, no data exist on the long-term outcome of this therapy. Seventy BPS/IC patients treated with intravesical hyaluronan therapy from 2001 to 2003 were asked to rate their present status of bladder symptoms on a visual analog scale. Forty-eight of 70 patients responded after a mean follow-up of 4.9 years. The average initial VAS score of 8.15 had been reduced to 2.71 after therapy and further to 2.14 5 years later. Fifty percent of patients (24/48) reported complete bladder symptom remission at 5 years follow-up without any additional therapy; 41.7% (20/48) with symptom recurrence was improved with hyaluronan maintenance therapy. No improvement was reported by four patients. Besides a high rate of acute symptom remission, intravesical hyaluronan also shows long-term efficacy in a considerable number of BPS/IC patients.