title: Elimination of Hunner's Ulcers by Fulguration in Patients With Interstitial Cystitis: Is It Effective and Long Lasting?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the outcome of fulguration of Hunner's ulcers (HUs) in painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC) that is refractory to conservative treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients diagnosed with refractory PBS/IC and treated with fulguration between 2011 and 2013 were identified through screening of medical records. To evaluate treatment outcomes, voiding diaries, the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, and two IC symptom questionnaires (pelvic pain and urgency/frequency scale [PUF] and O'Leary-Sant IC symptom index and IC problem index [OS]) were used. Fulguration was deemed to be successful if the VAS score was <2 or less than half of the preoperative VAS score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 27 patients with PBS/IC in whom conservative treatments had failed were enrolled. Two months after fulguration, decreases were observed in the mean 24-hour urinary frequency (from 16.0 to 10.2), 24-hour urgency episodes (8.0 to 1.8), and the VAS (5.8 to 1.2), PUF symptom (15.1 to 7.0), PUF bother (8.4 to 2.7), OS symptom (15.1 to 7.2), and OS problem (13.8 to 6.0) scores. At 5 and 10 months, all variables had worsened. At 2, 5, and 10 months, the success rates were 94.1%, 70.0%, and 33.3%, respectively. Four patients underwent one repeat fulguration on average 11.3 months after the first fulguration. Repeat fulguration was not significantly associated with any clinical characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In PBS/IC that was refractory to medication or other conservative treatments, HU elimination by fulguration effectively improved symptoms. However, this effect decreased gradually over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeman
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Sahyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pak
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ji-Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Sungwoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Myung-Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Choo
keywords: Electrocoagulation; Interstitial cystitis; Urinary bladder