Terodiline: a dose titrated, multicenter study of the treatment of idiopathic detrusor instability in women.

Idiopathic detrusor instability is a common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms at all ages and in both sexes. Treatment initially is conservative and often includes drug therapy. Terodiline has the theoretical advantage of being a drug with anticholinergic and calcium channel blocking effects. Theoretically, by using a drug with dual action the beneficial effect of reduced detrusor overactivity might occur at a dosage below that likely to lead to the troublesome side effects experienced by patients who take pure anticholinergic agents. A total of 70 female patients completed a study characterized by extremely strict inclusion criteria and a tight protocol. Other novel elements to the study were the extensive use of urinary diaries for symptom evaluation, standardized urodynamic studies agreed upon by the participating centers and the dose titration design of the trial. Terodiline has been demonstrated to be a safe, well tolerated and effective drug in the treatment of idiopathic detrusor instability. Drug treatment led to significant decreases in urinary frequency and incontinence episodes. Pre-micturition symptoms, such as urgency, were markedly reduced and the voided volume was significantly increased. Although there were consistent trends towards greater improvement in the urodynamic measurements, when the terodiline and placebo groups were compared these did not reach statistical significance, partly due to a large improvement in the placebo group. Nevertheless, terodiline has been shown to be a useful drug for conservative management of patients with detrusor instability.