Is There A Surgery For Interstitial Cystitis & Life Expectancy Of Someone With It?

No single treatment works for all people. Treatment must be chosen for each patient according to their symptoms.⁽¹⁾

Interstitial cystitis is characterized by periods of exacerbation and remission; some patients have completely asymptomatic periods interspersed with flares.⁽²⁾

Is There A Surgery For Interstitial Cystitis?

Surgical treatment has also been tried in various forms to cure interstitial cystitis but the results have been variable. Although it is not an encouraging scenario there is no specific surgical treatment available till now which has been designated as good enough for interstitial cystitis. Surgeries are taken as a last resort scenario for the patients of interstitial cystitis because it is a chronic condition and its severity denotes the requirement of surgery.

Surgical treatment is followed only after the failure of the third line of treatment which consists of only pharmacological substances. In fourth-line treatment, there is a surgical process done on the third sacral vertebrae known as neurostimulation. In this process, an electrode is inserted in III sacral vertebrae to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and its impulse which would help to control the voiding of urine and increase the holding capacity of the bladder. It is a permanent process and has to be done only after the condition cannot be managed by other conservative methods.

Then various other surgical processes are indicated in sixth line treatment which is the last available resort and hope to relieve the symptoms of interstitial cystitis.⁽³⁾ It is usually not required in most of the patients but few patients have to be considered for this line of treatment also. It consists of major surgeries like a urinary diversion, augmentation cystoplasty, etc.

Augmentation cystoplasty is done when there is a high amount of scarring in the bladder resulting in extremely low holding capacity. In this surgery, a piece of ileum is taken out and is joined with the bladder in a particular manner to increase its holding capacity.

Urinary diversion is the most dangerous and extremely unwanted kind of surgery because it requires a lot of surgical manipulation in the genitourinary tract to divert the pathway of urine excretion. It is the last of all the surgical methods available for interstitial cystitis and no other surgery is available after this treatment has been done.

Life Expectancy Of Someone With Interstitial Cystitis?

When a person is undergoing a surgical process, there is considerable risk to the life of the patient because surgery is itself is a very dangerous form of treatment. When some surgeries like urinary diversion, augmentation cystoplasty are to be done for a condition like interstitial cystitis which is usually benign than the risk to benefit ratio has to be taken into account. These are usually not indicated in most of the patients because this may affect the person of life very adversely and can even be life-threatening.

The life expectancy of the person may alter viciously after surgery. Not much of the data is collected for such a study because it is not a commonly indicated surgery.

Interstitial cystitis is itself a benign condition and does not affect the life expectancy of a person suffering from it. But it can greatly affect the quality of life of the individual because of the symptoms associated with it. Life expectancy could reduce indirectly due to superimposed psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety, etc. as there are many cases in which the patient has committed suicide.

Conclusion

Various surgeries can be indicated in severe cases of interstitial cystitis but these are only followed after the failure of pharmacological treatment because these also pose a high amount of threat to the life of individuals. Surgeries like urinary diversion require a lot of manipulation which makes it is a life-threatening surgery.

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Is There A Surgery For Interstitial Cystitis & Life Expectancy Of Someone With It?