Cystitis refers to any swelling of the bladder, and two common causes of this irritation are urinary tract infections and a disease called interstitial cystitis, or IC, in which the wall of the bladder becomes irritated and scarred by toxins. Although some toxins are identified, others may be food- or allergy-related, and there is no cure for IC. Washing the bladder with a medication called DMSO may provide symptom relief for some patients with IC.
IC Symptoms
IC symptoms often occur as a triad of pain in the bladder area, extreme urinary frequency and urgency. These symptoms can worsen progressively or in response to changes in a person's diet. Although medications and dietary restrictions can ease pain symptoms and bladder training can reduce frequency, these effects can vary from person to person.
DMSO Effects
Dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO, is the only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for instillation into the bladder to treat IC symptoms. DMSO enters the bladder wall and likely lowers swelling within the wall itself to stop pain at the source. Because the bladder is primarily muscle, DMSO also likely reduces the number and rate of muscle contractions to slow the frequency and urgency symptoms of IC, notes the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
Bladder Washing
Treatment with DMSO instillation is known as bladder washing, and it may be performed with a local numbing, or anesthetic, medicine. The DMSO liquid is injected into the bladder through a catheter and is held in the bladder for 15 minutes. Then, patients undergoing the wash release the DMSO through urination. The wash is most often done in a doctor's office and must be repeated every one or two weeks for approximately 2 months. Symptom relief develops after a few weeks of treatment.
DMSO Side Effects
Although DMSO can be difficult to administer because it requires a catheter, the drug itself has few side effects. The most common side effect of DMSO is a garlicky odor on the skin and breath immediately after treatment, which may last for up to seven hours. Long-term possible side effects of DMSO include liver enzyme changes and cataracts, which have been identified only in animal studies.
