title: Long-term experience with sodium chondroitin sulfate in patients with painful bladder syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the response of patients diagnosed with painful bladder syndrome to treatment with instillations of sodium chondroitin sulfate.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a series of cases of patients with painful bladder syndrome who followed a bladder instillation protocol with sodium chondroitin sulfate, according to our centre's regimen. The response to treatment was assessed with respect to pain, according to the Downie scale; urinary frequency, according to the voiding diary; and subjective improvement, according to the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 28 patients with a median age of 59 years (range 22-90) followed this protocol. From the medical histories, 19.4% had suffered an infection of the urinary tract, 3.8% had suffered urinary tuberculosis, 7.6% received pelvic radiation therapy and 26.9% had taken anticholinergic drugs for overactive bladder syndrome. We evaluated the response to treatment at 0, 3, 6 and 12 months and found that at the end of treatment 72.3% of the patients had improved bladder pain and 75% were significantly better.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment with sodium chondroitin sulfate through endovesical instillation in painful bladder syndrome improves pain, voiding frequency and quality of life in the long term.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Urología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de La Arrixaca, Murcia, España. Electronic address: ignaciotorne@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Tornero
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Olarte
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Escudero
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018856:Cystitis, Interstitial / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates
keywords: Chondroitin sulfate; Cistitis intersticial; Condroitín sulfato; Glucosaminoglucanos; Glycosaminoglycans; Interstitial cystitis; Painful bladder; Vejiga dolorosa