Impact of spinal neuromodulation on spinal neural networks controlling lower urinary tract function

Spinal cord injury invariably leads to severe dysfunction of the lower urinary tract; patients develop urinary incontinence, recurrent urinary tract infections, incomplete bladder emptying and high bladder pressures. Reliance on catheters to empty the bladder is virtually universal. Established therapies for lower urinary tract dysfunction due to spinal cord injury focus on preventing and managing complications rather than on restoring function. Spinal Neuromodulation offers a diametrically different approach to classic therapies for neurogenic bladder: by delivering low-intensity sub-motor threshold electrical pulses directly to the spinal cord, Spinal Neuromodulation activates lumbar neural networks rendered dysfunctional by the spinal cord injury and restores communication between the lower urinary tract and higher neural centers responsible for micturition control. Spinal neuromodulation improves bladder capacity, diminishes urinary incontinence and, remarkably, restores bladder sensation even in individuals, whose spinal cord injury is considered clinically complete.