Overactive bladder syndrome. Clinical lecture

The article is presented in the format of a lecture material. The lecture examines, from a modern perspective, the etiology, pathogenesis, risk factors, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of overactive bladder syndrome (OAB). The continuously growing body of research indicates that OAB is an extremely complex, chronic, and age-progressive clinical syndrome that shares similar symptoms with other urological conditions. It is characterized by urgency, with or without urgency urinary incontinence, increased urinary frequency (more than eight times per day), and nocturia, in the absence of infections or other apparent bladder pathologies that could explain these manifestations. OAB significantly worsens patients’ quality of life by negatively affecting their emotional well-being, social interactions, sexual health, and other aspects of daily living. Despite the fact that this problem is one of the most common in urological practice, it should be recognized that there are difficulties in objectively assessing symptoms, and the treatment of GMP in both men and women remains a difficult problem. Current clinical care standards for OAB aim to ensure a high quality of life for patients and outline three main therapeutic approaches: conservative (non-pharmacological) treatment, pharmacotherapy, and invasive methods. These approaches require the involvement of specialists from multiple medical disciplines. To establish a diagnosis, the urologist must exclude all other potential causes that could explain the patient’s symptoms. When diagnosing OAB, it is essential to consider not only the inability to achieve sustained remission of symptoms but also the presence of significant side effects, which may lead patients to discontinue medication even when remission is achieved. Since symptoms tend to reappear in most patients, treatment is administered either through repeated courses or on a continuous basis.

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