Exploring the Effect of Bladder Functional Training Combined with Repetitive Sacral Root Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Neurogenic Bladder

Objective: To observe the therapeutic effect of bladder function training combined with repetitive sacral root magnetic stimulation (rSMS) on neurogenic bladder in patients with spinal cord injury. Methods: From January 2019 to May 2021, we selected 68 patients with neurogenic bladder and spinal cord injury who were hospitalized in the rehabilitation department of our hospital. Patients were divided into the rSMS group (36 cases) and control group (32 cases) according to a random number table. The rSMS group was treated with bladder functional training combined with rSMS, while the control group was treated only with bladder functional training. The training lasted for 40 days. Finally, we compared the therapeutic effects in the 2 groups. Results: There was no significant difference in sex, age, course of disease, site, and grade of spinal cord injury between the 2 groups. There was no statistically significant difference in urodynamics between the 2 groups before treatment. After treatment, the residual urine volume of the rSMS group was 82.7 +/- 34.6 mL, maximum urine flow rate was 15.7 +/- 4.8 mL/second, bladder volume was 388.6 +/- 51.3 mL, and bladder pressure was 36.3 +/- 6.3 cm H2O. After treatment, the residual urine volume in the rSMS group was significantly less than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The maximum urine flow, bladder volume, and bladder pressure in the rSMS group were higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). After treatment and after 40 days of follow-up, the Barthel index scores of the patients in the rSMS group were 69.5 +/- 9.3 and 73.5 +/- 8.2, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the patients in the control group (P < 0.05). The effective rates were 94.4% in the rSMS group and 81.3% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Compared with bladder function training alone, bladder function training combined with rSMS was more effective in the treatment of neurogenic bladder, particularly for detrusor hyporeflexia/areflexia; it significantly improved patients' ability to urinate autonomously, reduced the residual urine volume of the bladder, and improved patients' quality of life.