About Medtronic InterStim Therapy for Urinary Control

If you've tried other treatments but are still suffering from bladder control problems, you might be relieved to hear about another option: InterStim Therapy.

What Is InterStim Therapy?
InterStim Therapy was created by Medtronic, the developer of the pacemaker. This FDA-approved treatment can eliminate or greatly reduce bladder control symptoms for people suffering from overactive bladder (urge incontinence, urgency-frequency) or urinary retention problems.

Neurostimulation is a reversible treatment that can be discontinued at any time by turning off or removing the device. It sends mild electrical pulses to the sacral nerves.

Located near the tailbone, the sacral nerves control the bladder and the muscles related to urinary function. If the brain and sacral nerves don’t communicate correctly, the nerves can’t tell the bladder to function properly. This communication problem can lead to symptoms of overactive bladder. Neurostimulation targets these symptoms by stimulating the sacral nerves with mild electrical pulses.

Neurostimulation may help you resume normal activities, and help you avoid frustrating experiences associated with overactive bladder.

How Can I Find Out If InterStim Therapy Will Work for Me?

You can try InterStim Therapy during a trial assessment period to find out whether it will work for you before making a long-term commitment. With long-term InterStim Therapy, a small neurostimulator is placed under the skin of the upper buttock during a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure.

The Trial Assessment
The trial assessment takes 3 days and lets you try neurostimulation to see if it is right for you without making a long-term commitment.

Your doctor will help you determine whether neurostimulation is right for you. The treatment is designed to minimize the symptoms of overactive bladder. Neurostimulation may be a good option for you if you have not had success with or could not tolerate more conservative treatments.

Here’s how it works:

• Your doctor will numb a small area and insert a thin, flexible wire near your sacral nerves (near your tailbone). The wire is taped to your skin and connected to a small stimulator which you’ll wear on your waistband.
• The stimulator sends mild electrical pulses through the wire to a sacral nerve. The stimulation may help improve your bladder function or get it working the way it’s supposed to.

During the trial assessment, you can continue many of your daily activities with caution. You can usually continue to work throughout your trial assessment if your job doesn’t require strenuous movement.

You’ll be asked to document your urinary symptoms. If your symptoms are significantly reduced or eliminated during the trial, you and your doctor can discuss long-term neurostimulation therapy.

The results of neurostimulation vary from person to person. This treatment option is not a cure for bladder control problems; it may help relieve your symptoms.

How It Works
Watch how InterStim Therapy works (scroll down on linked page for video) with the sacral nerves to reduce the symptoms of overactive bladder.

Answers to Common Questions regarding InterStim Therapy

Testimonials
What our patients have to say about InterStim... 

What other patients have to say about InterStim Therapy - Learn about the experiences of others with bladder control problems as they explored treatment options and found hope with InterStim Therapy.

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References

1. Single-stage Implant Clinical Trial, Medtronic Clinical Summary for InterStim Therapy.
2. *All information and links on this page come from the Medtronic InterStim Therapy website at www.everyday-freedom.com .