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Kuo YC, Kuo HC. O’Leary-Sant Symptom Index Predicts the Treatment Outcome for OnabotulinumtoxinA Injections for Refractory Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome. Toxins (Basel). 2015 Jul 30;7(8):2860-71. doi: 10.3390/toxins7082860.

Botulinum toxin injection is a promising form of treatment for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). However, it’s unclear which patient groups may truly benefit from the intervention. To figure out what factors correlate with successful treatment outcome, investigators conducted a study that included 101 patients with IC/BPS who failed conventional treatments. Each patient received an intravesical injection of botulinum toxin followed by hydrodistention. Before the patients were treated, however, investigators assessed their IC/BPS symptoms using a variety of measurements, including the well-known O’Leary-Sant IC Symptom Index (ICSI). Those measurements were repeated again at 6 months after treatment. Analysis of those results showed that patients who had an ICSI score of 12 or greater may have a poorer treatment outcome. Although further study is needed, these results provide some new insights into which patients may or may not benefit from botulinum toxin treatment.