ABSTRACT
Electrical devices for the control of bladder management have a number of potential benefits over alternative methods, such as mechanical devices, pharmaceuticals, and surgical interventions. Electrical stimulation techniques can provide immediate, reversible effect. Some of the challenges of electrical device development for bladder function include electrode design, surgical implantation, and tuning stimulation parameters to effect. Bladder inhibition has been demonstrated in acute studies using electrical stimulation of the genital nerve. Intravesical electrical stimulation activates an excitatory bladder reflex to promote voiding. This is the cause of poststimulus voiding, which is the result of rapid fatiguing of the sphincter and the delayed oncoming detrusor contraction leading to bladder emptying. However, in the presence of intact sacral reflexes, the dyssynergia persists in the gap between the bursts of stimulation to prevent efficient emptying, especially when stimulation is applied to the mixed nerve roots.
