This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of bladder hydrodistension in the treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), depending on the duration of the procedure.
Materials and methods. The study comprised 71 women aged 51.6±8.3 years with a 5.2±2.3 year history of IC/BPS. All patients underwent bladder hydrodistension (BH). Depending on the duration of BH, patients were divided into 4 groups. The distension time in group 1 (n=10), group 2 (n=20), group 3 (n=20) and group 4 (n=21) was 1 min, 2 min, 4 min and 6 min, respectively. The treatment effectiveness was assessed 1 month after BH by subjective assessment of patients, Pelvic Pain and Urgency/Frequency (PUF) Patient Symptom Scale questionnaire, a visual analog pain scale (VAS), and voiding diaries.
Results. At one month after BH, positive effect was observed in 32 (45.1%) patients. In groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 the treatment was effective in 20%, 55%, 45% and 47.6% of patients, respectively.
Clinical effectiveness of BH with distension time of 1 min was significantly lower than that of 2, 4, and 6 min. At the same time, we did not find significant differences in the effectiveness of this procedure with distension time of 2, 4 and 6 min.
Conclusion. The results of this study suggest that BH is an effective treatment in patients suffering from IC/BPS. At the same time, they show that the distension time of 2 min. is optimal from the point of view of clinical effectiveness, since the longer duration of the procedure is excessive, and the shorter time is insufficient.

Keywords: interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome, hydrodistension