Current evidence also suggests the efficacy of  dimethyl sulfoxide and amitryptyline therapy .
Hydroxyzine , intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin  , and  resiniferatoxin therapy  failed to demonstrate efficacy , but evidence was inconclusive owing to method ological limitations .
Pentosan polysulfate may be modestly beneficial for symptoms of PBS/IC .
There is insufficient evidence for other pharmacologic treatments .
BACKGROUND More than 180 different types of therapy have been used in the treatment and management of  painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis ( PBS/IC ) , yet evidence from clinical trials remains inconclusive .
This study aim ed to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacologic approaches to PBS/IC , to quantify the effect size from r and omized controlled trials , and to begin to inform a clinical consensus of treatment efficacy for PBS/IC .
A randomized controlled trial of intravesical bacillus calmette-guerin for treatment refractory interstitial cystitis.
PURPOSE We compared intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin ( BCG ) to placebo instillations in patients with treatment refractory interstitial cystitis ( IC ) . MATERIAL S AND METHODS Subjects who met the National Institutes of Health-National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases criteria for IC , and reported at least moderate pain and frequency for a minimum of 6 months before study entry , were r and omized to 6 weekly double-blinded intravesical instillations of either BCG or placebo , and then followed for a total of 34 weeks . The primary outcome was a patient reported global response assessment at week 34 , supplemented with medications for IC during weeks 31 to 34 . Secondary outcomes included a 24-hour voiding diary , pain , urgency , vali date d IC symptom indexes and adverse events . The target sample size was 260 participants , design ed to detect a difference in response rates between placebo and BCG of 30 % and 50 % , respectively . RESULTS A total of 265 participants were r and omized and 17 ( 6 % ) patients withdrew from study . The response rates for the primary outcome were 12 % for placebo and 21 % for BCG ( p = 0.062 ) . Small improvements were observed for all secondary outcomes , some more so with BCG , but these differences were of borderline statistical significance . Although a large number of adverse events were reported in the BCG arm , there was no statistically significant difference between the treatment arms in overall adverse event rates . CONCLUSIONS Although the BCG safety profile was acceptable , the response rate for the primary outcome was low . Effective medical treatment for patients with moderate to severe interstitial cystitis remains elusive
Current evidence also suggests the efficacy of  dimethyl sulfoxide and amitryptyline therapy .
Hydroxyzine , intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin  , and  resiniferatoxin therapy  failed to demonstrate efficacy , but evidence was inconclusive owing to method ological limitations .
Pentosan polysulfate may be modestly beneficial for symptoms of PBS/IC .
There is insufficient evidence for other pharmacologic treatments .
BACKGROUND More than 180 different types of therapy have been used in the treatment and management of  painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis ( PBS/IC ) , yet evidence from clinical trials remains inconclusive .
This study aim ed to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacologic approaches to PBS/IC , to quantify the effect size from r and omized controlled trials , and to begin to inform a clinical consensus of treatment efficacy for PBS/IC .