TENS Treatment for Bedwetting

March 30, 2023 updated by: Adam Howe, MD, Albany Medical College

Optimal Frequency Used in Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) for Treating Nocturnal Enuresis in Children

Children referred to pediatric urology clinic for primary nocturnal enuresis will be screened for enrollment. Patients who fail will next be offered therapy with a bedwetting alarm device or a TENS unit as an alternative, and those who chose TENS therapy will be included in the study.The patients will be randomized into three groups of 30 patients each. Group 1 will be the long frequency set at 2 Hz (hertz). Group 2 will be the moderate frequency set at 10 Hz. Group 3 will be the short frequency set 150 Hz. The patients will be provided with a TENS unit and electrode pads and caretakers instructed on how to use the apparatus.

The child's TENS unit will be set at a frequency determined by randomization, pulse width of 260 seconds, and an intensity to be determined in the office based upon when the child feels sensitive to the TENS unit. The child will be randomized and will place the electrodes along the posterior tibial nerve on the medial ankle each night before bed time for 15 minutes for a total of 30 days. Diaries including nighttime incontinence episodes and a "wet sheet" scale (dry, damp, wet, soaked) will be recorded, along with any adverse reactions to the TENS unit. Patients will be followed up after one month of TENS with evaluation including the Pediatric Urinary Incontinence Questionnaire, a validated tool for measuring quality of life in children with bladder dysfunction; this questionnaire will be filled out prior to starting TENS treatment in order to compare the effect of treatment on QOL. The data will be collected at different time points (baseline and after 1 month of treatment) for each group by itself and the groups compared against each other using statistical analysis.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Institutional review board approval was obtained. Children ages 5-18 years old referred to the pediatric urology clinic for primary nocturnal enuresis will be screened for enrollment. Behavioral modification (limiting evening drinking, double voiding prior to bedtime, bowel habits, social anxiety factors) will be utilized first. Patients who fail will next be offered therapy with a bedwetting alarm device or a TENS unit as an alternative, and those who chose TENS therapy will be included in the study. Patients who have previously tried pharmacologic treatment for nocturnal enuresis or alternative therapy for urologic disorders within the past 30 days, daytime incontinence symptoms, known "high volume" voiders (determined from history), bedwetting episodes on the average of less than one time per week, medications predisposing to incontinence (eg, Lithium for bipolar disorder), other known voiding or neurologic disorders (eg, overactive bladder, myelomeningocele), secondary etiologies for nocturnal enuresis (eg, cystitis, obstructive sleep apnea, urinary fistulae), prior use of a TENS unit or other neuromodulation for bedwetting, and any contraindications to usage of a TENS unit such as having a pacemaker will be excluded. Patients who have previously tried the bedwetting alarm will not be excluded from the study.

The patients will be randomized into three groups of 30 patients each. Group 1 will be the long frequency set at 2 Hz. Group 2 will be the moderate frequency set at 10 Hz. Group 3 will be the short frequency set 150 Hz. There is no sham group in this study as the investigator has previously found posterior tibial TENS to be effective and lasting, and as such all patients will be treated. The investigator will aim to recruit 30 patients per group for a total of 90 patients. Detailed explanation of the purpose if the study, along with the risks and benefits of TENS will be given to the patient and caretakers by a provider prior to obtaining informed consent for enrollment into the study. The patients will be provided with a TENS unit and electrode pads and caretakers instructed on how to use the apparatus.

Parents/patients of enrolled patients will fill out nightly voiding diaries, recording nighttime incontinence episodes and subjective "wet sheets" scale per night (dry, damp, wet, soaked) for 30 days prior to randomization into the treatment arms. The TENS sessions will be performed nightly at bedtime for 15 minutes for 30 days. TENS units will be set at a frequency of 10Hz, and intensity determined in the office by the sensitivity threshold of the patient. Voiding diaries will be kept each night while on TENS therapy. A voiding diary will also be completed 30 days before TENS treatment, patients and families will fill out the Pediatric Urinary Incontinence Questionnaire (PIN-Q), a validated tool for measuring quality of life in children with bladder dysfunction. Patients will follow up at day 30 and as needed (worsening symptoms, adverse reactions, concerns, and questions regarding usage of TENS). Patients who record 2 wet nights per week (a total of 8/30=27% wet nights) will be eligible for the TENS study. Those who record less than 2 wet nights per week will be ineligible for the TENS study but will be offered therapy using a bedwetting alarm device or other treatment.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • Albany, New York, United States, 12208
        • Recruiting
        • Albany Medical College
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Adam Howe, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Barry Kogan, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Karla Giramonti, FNP

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

5 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Presenting with nocturnal enuresis (more than 1x a week)
  2. Failed Behavioral modification treatment (limiting evening drinking, double voiding prior to bedtime, bowel habits, social anxiety factors)
  3. Ability to provide informed consent and assent and complete study requirements

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients who have previously tried pharmacologic treatment for nocturnal enuresis, neuromodulation or other alternative therapy for urologic disorders within the past 30 days
  2. Daytime incontinence symptoms
  3. Known "high volume" voiders (determined from history)
  4. Bedwetting episodes on the average of less than two times per week,
  5. Medications predisposing to incontinence (eg, Lithium for bipolar disorder)
  6. Other known voiding or neurologic disorders (eg, overactive bladder, myelomeningocele, interstitial cystitis, etc)
  7. Secondary etiologies for nocturnal enuresis (eg, cystitis, obstructive sleep apnea, urinary fistulae, heart disease)
  8. Any contraindications to usage of a TENS unit (pacemaker or other implantable device, lymphedema, pregnancy, malignancy,bleeding or clotting disorders, unhealthy tissue, seizure disorders, impaired cognition)
  9. Any history of heart disease or complications

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Pulse rate 2Hz (hertz)
electrodes placed per treatment arm, performed at bedtime, session time 15 min, frequency setting of 2 Hz, intensity setting to patient's tolerance, duration 30 days
Device: pulse rate of 2 Hz
electrodes placed per treatment arm, performed at bedtime, session time 15 min, frequency setting of 2 Hz, intensity setting to patient's tolerance, duration 30 days
Other Names:
  • TENS
Experimental: Pulse rate 10Hz
electrodes placed per treatment arm, performed at bedtime, session time 15 min, frequency setting of 10 Hz, intensity setting to patient's tolerance, duration 30 days
Device: pulse rate of 10 Hz
electrodes placed per treatment arm, performed at bedtime, session time 15 min, frequency setting of 10 Hz, intensity setting to patient's tolerance, duration 30 days
Other Names:
  • TENS
Experimental: Pulse rate 150Hz
electrodes placed per treatment arm, performed at bedtime, session time 15 min, frequency setting of 150 Hz, intensity setting to patient's tolerance, duration 30 days
Device: pulse rate of 150 Hz
electrodes placed per treatment arm, performed at bedtime, session time 15 min, frequency setting of 150 Hz, intensity setting to patient's tolerance, duration 30 days
Other Names:
  • TENS

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of wet nights
Time Frame: 30 days
Total number of change in wet nights compared in each TENS arm and baseline wet nights
30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Severity of wet nights
Time Frame: 30 days
Mean score (0 dry to 3 soaked) of subjective severity of wetness each night during treatment month compared to baseline month
30 days
Pediatric Incontinence Questionnaire (PIN-Q)
Time Frame: 30 days
Quality of life questionnaire score after treatment month compared to after baseline month. Scores = mild <20, moderate 21-50, and severe >51
30 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Albany Medical College

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 20, 2020

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

January 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

January 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 16, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 16, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

March 18, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 3, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 30, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 5618

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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