Treatment approaches for interstitial cystitis: multimodality therapy.

Interstitial cystitis is an increasingly common disease characterized by urgency, frequency, and pelvic pain. Its etiology is poorly understood but is likely to be multifactorial. A proposed pathophysiology describing a cascade of events, including epithelial dysfunction, mast cell activation, and neurogenic inflammation, is presented. Using this model, multimodality therapy regimens have been developed that treat all components of this cascade. Multimodality therapy appears more effective than single agents in the treatment of interstitial cystitis.