Analgesic effect of bilateral ultrasound-guided pudendal nerve blocks in management of interstitial cystitis.

摘要

Interstitial cystitis is a chronic inflammatory bladder syndrome with limited treatment options. Pudendal nerve stimulation is in vogue as treatment, yet its use has inherent drawbacks including availability and cost. Although pudendal nerve blocks are common practice [1], there has been no report of the specific use of ultrasound to treat interstitial cystitis. We describe bilateral ultrasound-guided pudendal nerve blocks in two patients with interstitial cystitis with excellent analgesic outcome. A 66-year-old man with a 7-year history of severe bladder pain and frequencyocturia was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. He had undergone transurethral resection of prostate and multiple therapeutic cystoscopies to alleviate his symptoms with no success. Despite long-term amitriptyline and analgesia, his pain continued to interfere with daily activities, and he was referred for further pain management.