The Clinical Symptoms and Psychological Status of Biofeedback Electrical Stimulation Combined with Pelvic Floor Muscle Training during the Treatment of Mild Stress Urinary Incontinence after Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate

INTRODUCTION: To study the clinical symptoms and psychological status of biofeedback electrical stimulation combined with pelvic floor muscle training during the treatment of mild stress urinary incontinence (SUI) after holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). METHODS: Group A was treated by biofeedback and electrical stimulation; Group B was treated by pelvic floor muscle training; and Group C was treated by biofeedback and electrical stimulation combined with pelvic floor muscle training. Patients in the 3 groups had follow-up evaluations every 8, 16, and 24 weeks. Clinical symptoms of urinary incontinence were assessed using the 24-h urinary pad test, the Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI-SF); and psychological status was evaluated using the modified Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: The results of ICIQ-UI-SF showed that there were differences within and between the three groups at 8 weeks, 16 weeks, and 24 weeks (p < 0.05). The results of the 24-h pad tests were similar (p < 0.05), except for no difference between group B and group C at 8 weeks (p > 0.05). In the study with the score of HADS >35, the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference among the three groups at 0 and 8 weeks (p > 0.05). There were differences in the results between group C and the other two groups at 16 and 24 weeks of treatment (p < 0.05). For patients with HADS <35 at week 0, the results were basically the same except for the difference between groups at week 8. HADS of all patients were no statistical difference (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Biofeedback electrical stimulation combined with pelvic floor muscle training is an efficient nonsurgical combination therapy for the symptoms of SUI after HoLEP for benign prostatic hyperplasia. In addition, the recovery of the patient's psychological state does not coincide with the recovery of urinary incontinence; therefore, we propose that patients still need additional psychological treatment after SUI disappears.