Effect of spinal anterior root stimulation and sacral deafferentation on bladder and sexual dysfunction in spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a highly devastating injury with a variety of complications; among them are neurogenic bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction. We aimed to evaluate the effect of sacral anterior root stimulation with sacral deafferentation (SARS-SDAF) on neurogenic bladder and sexual dysfunction in a large well-defined spinal cord injury cohort. In the manner of cross-sectional study, subjects undergone SARS-SDAF between September 1986 and July 2011 answered a questionnaire concerning conditions before and after surgery in the department of Neuro-Urology, Bad Wildungen, Germany. In total 287 of 587 subjects were analyzed. Median age was 49 years (range 19-80), median time from SCI to surgery was 10 years (range 0-49), and from surgery to follow-up 13 years (range 1-25). Of the analyzed subjects, 100% of both gender used SARS for bladder emptying. On the visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 10 (best), satisfaction with SARS-SDAF was 10 concerning bladder emptying, however 5 and 8 regarding sexual performance, for female and male users, respectively. Baseline and follow-up comparison showed a decline in self-intermittent catheterization (p < 0.0001), partial catheterization by attendant (p = 0.0125), complete catheterization and suprapubic catheterization (p < 0.0001), transurethral catheterization (p < 0.0011), and fewer cases of involuntary urine leakage (p < 0.0001). The SARS-SDAF is a beneficial multi-potential treatment method with simultaneous positive effect on multi-organ dysfunction among SCI subjects.