Sacral neuromodulation to treat voiding dysfunction in patients with previous pelvic surgery for deep infiltrating endometriosis: our centre's experience

Marco Agnello, Mario Vottero, Paola Bertapelle
International urogynecology journal · 2020 · vol. 32(6) , pp. 1499–1504 · doi:10.1007/s00192-020-04478-z · PMID:32803341 · W3049133772
article OA: hybrid CC0 ⤵ 8 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Voiding symptoms/dysfunctions (VS/Ds) after surgery for deep-infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) are frequent (20% of patients) and, together with bowel dysfunctions, may represent a de novo disorder due to surgical damage of the pelvic plexus or a worsening of pre-existent functional damage. Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) might improve voiding symptoms by treating dysfunctional voiding. The aim of this study is to report our experience with SNM in patients treated with surgery for DIE. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 13 patients with VS/Ds after surgery for DIE. All patients were investigated with urodynamic studies (UDS) and agreed to undergo SNM. Pre-existing VS/Ds, bowel disorders and pelvic pain, DIE surgical procedures, UDS and SNM test results were recorded. RESULTS: After surgery for DIE, functional bladder outflow obstruction and detrusor acontractility were observed in nine and four patients, respectively. Chronic pelvic pain was present in seven cases. Twelve patients developed constipation, whilst one patient had de novo faecal incontinence. After the SNM testing period, nine patients (69.2%) experienced a significant improvement of symptoms that led to definitive implant. Four patients (30.8%) had no symptom relief and the system was removed. CONCLUSIONS: Functional bladder outflow obstruction and urinary retention are the most common VS/Ds after surgery for DIE. SNM may be an effective option for these patients, probably due to its action in improving the dysfunctional voiding, which was likely to be already present as part of the "endometriotic syndrome" and got worse after pelvic surgery. Results for pelvic pain control and gastrointestinal disorders should not be underestimated.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisdie_deep_infiltratingchronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Electric Stimulation Therapy Endometriosis Urinary Retention Urinary Retention Female Humans Lumbosacral Plexus Retrospective Studies Treatment Outcome

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (30)

Cited by (8)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:21:47.975235+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK