How Do Surgical Interventions for Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Impact Quality of Life?

Objective: Adult patients with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) often have urinary symptoms that impact their quality of life (QOL). Our objective is to identify and summarize studies evaluating QOL changes across different NLUTD surgical interventions.

Methods: A systematic rapid evidence review was carried using EMBASE and MEDLINE. We included adult patients (> 18 years old) with NLUTD who underwent a relevant surgery and had a measurement of QOL. We included pre-post study designs (primary focus) and cross-sectional studies (secondary focus). Studies were reviewed and data extracted by multiple assessors. Standardized data extraction tables were used, and qualitative synthesis was performed.

Results: Of the 1074 screened articles 26 were included. There were 3/15 studies that evaluated reconstructive surgery (augmentation and/or catheterisable channel) pre-post intervention (n = 94 patients); there was a 7%-28% relative improvement in bladder related and overall QOL using validated questionnaires, and a large magnitude of improvement in studies using unvalidated questionnaires. There were 3/7 studies that looked at urinary diversion pre-post intervention (n = 153 patients) and showed an approximately 20%-60% improvement in validated questionnaires assessing bladder specific quality of life, and 0%-25% improvement in overall quality of life. Finally, 3/4 studies were pre-post stress incontinence surgeries (n = 67 patients) and they found an improvement in the ICIQ questionnaire scores and study-specific questionnaires.

Conclusion: The literature supporting a change in QOL in adult NLUTD patients undergoing surgical interventions is extremely limited due to a lack of pre-post studies, and the frequent use of unvalidated outcome measures.