CHICAGO (Reuters Health) - Applying a gel containing the anti-spasmodic
agent oxybutynin to the skin is safe and effective for women with overactive
bladder, according to a study reported here at the annual meeting of the
American Urological Association.
Overactive bladder can be disabling and is associated with a marked decrease in
health-related quality of life as well as higher rates of depression, Dr. Roger
Dmochowski noted. The condition affects both men and women, but women experience
more severe symptoms earlier in life than men.
The gel, which goes by the brand name Gelnique, is applied "once daily to
rotating sites on the abdomen, upper arm/shoulders and thigh." Dmochowski of
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and others tested
it in some 700 women with symptoms of overactive bladder.
The women were randomly assigned to treatment with the oxybutynin gel or an
inactive placebo, which they applied once a day for 12 weeks.
By the end of the study period, 27 percent of the women treated with oxybutynin
gel achieved complete continence compared with 15.6 percent treated with
placebo.
The average daily number of mean urinary episodes dropped by 2.8 episodes with
active treatment compared with 2.0 episodes with placebo.
There was also a greater reduction in incontinence, which dropped by 3.0
episodes a day with oxybutynin and by 2.5 episodes a day with placebo.
There were no serious treatment-related adverse events. The most common side
effect with oxybutynin gel was dry mouth, occurring in 7.4 percent of the women
compared with 2.8 percent with placebo. Itchiness occurred at the application
site in 2.3 percent of the study group and 0.9 percent of the placebo group.
The results confirm that the oxybutynin gel "is a novel treatment approach with
strong efficacy and excellent tolerability" for women with overactive bladder,
Dmochowski commented during the presentation of his team's findings.
"Women with overactive bladder often experience severe symptoms at a young age,
so it's important that we have an effective treatment that is both well
tolerated and convenient for our female patients," he said.
Source : Thomson Reuters
