Overactive bladder is a syndrome characterized by urinary urgency. Lower urinary tract symptoms include urinary hesitancy and intermittency and weak urinary stream.
Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the two widely used medications, tolterodine extended release and tamsulosin used alone or in combination in men with overactive bladder and enlarged prostate.
The researchers found that 80% of patients receiving tolterodine ER plus tamsulosin reported treatment benefit by week 12, compared with 62% of patients receiving placebo, 65% of patients receiving tolterodine ER, or 71% of patients receiving tamsulosin. Neither group receiving monotherapy demonstrated significant differences versus placebo in percentages of patients reporting treatment benefit.
The symptoms of urgency urinary incontinence, urgency, and 24-hour and nocturnal urination frequency were also significantly improved by week 12 in the group receiving tolterodine plus tamsulosin but not in the tamsulosin group.
Additionally, there were no significant differences in maximum urinary flow rate or postvoid residual volume between any 2 groups
“The results of this study demonstrate that some men bothered by lower urinary tract symptoms, including bladder diary-documented overactive bladder symptoms, might not respond to monotherapy,” researchers noted.