Secondary overactive bladder syndrome with restless legs syndrome following cerebral infarction: report of 2 cases

TL;DR

This paper reports two cases where patients with cerebral infarction developed both overactive bladder and restless legs syndrome, which improved with pramipexole.

Contribution

The study suggests a possible shared pathology between restless legs syndrome and overactive bladder following cerebral infarction.

Findings

Two patients with cerebral infarction showed improvement in both overactive bladder and restless legs symptoms after pramipexole treatment.

The findings suggest a potential overlap in the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome and overactive bladder following cerebral infarction.

Dopaminergic agonists may be more effective than M receptor inhibitors or β3 agonists in treating overlapping symptoms.

Abstract

Previous research has commonly regarded overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) as distinct disorders in terms of their underlying causes, clinical diagnosis, and treatment approaches. However, there is evidence of an overlap in the occurrence of these two conditions following cerebral infarction(CI). Specifically, restless bladder syndrome (RBS), a subtype of RLS, exhibits symptoms similar to those of OAB. Consequently, further investigation is warranted to better understand the relationship between these two disorders.

In this report, we present the cases of two patients who presented with both OAB following CI, along with RLS. Following administration of oral pramipexole, both nocturia and RLS exhibited prompt and efficient alleviation.

There may exist a shared pathological foundation between certain RLS cases and OAB. In instances where patients exhibit evident OAB symptoms following CI and concurrently experience RLS, it is advisable to prioritize the administration of dopaminergic agonists over M receptor inhibitors and β3 agonists. Furthermore, it is plausible that the RBS or a subset of RLS cases could potentially be classified as a form of OAB, although this correlation has yet to be definitively established.

Figures