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Revised: July 10, 2001

A NEW BLADDER COCKTAIL: DMSO & PENTOSAN

It's been found helpful for IC patients, particularly those with pain! Research from Scotland is promising

Yet another reason why international collaboration is a vital need in the IC movement and why we must support international research studies and collaborative efforts.

This Summer's British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) conference (Dublin, Ireland - June 2001) featured a fascinating new IC treatment option. Cathy McLean and colleagues (Department of Urology) conducted a study to evaluate a new dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) cocktail as a possible treatment for IC.

Methods: Over a 30-month period, a total of 23 patients were treated (22 of them women) with a mean age of 55 (range 17-85) years. Instillation of 50 mL sodium bicarbonate 8.4%, 1 mL pentosan polysulfate 100 mg/mL, 0.25 mL hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 mg/mL, and 50 mL DMSO 50% (v/v) was administered once a week for a period of six weeks.

Results: Of the 23 patients, 17 (75 percent) responded well to treatment and the remaining six relapsed between six and 12 months. One patient stopped after two months because they had experienced no improvement in symptoms. The visual analog pain scores were reduced by a mean of 5.0 (range 0.1 - 7.7) and the quality of life (QOL) scores improved by a mean of 3.5 (range 1 - 6). There was no significant change in the frequency and nocturia scores.

Summary: Dr. McLean and colleagues believe that this new cocktail should be considered as an alternative to other instillation treatments for patients whose main symptom is pain rather than frequency and urgency. They are now carrying out a longer-term follow-up of these patients.

Source - BAUS: Dimethyl Sulfoxide Cocktail May Be Alternative Treatment For Interstitial Cystitis