BACKGROUND: Having the advantages of safety, non-invasion and no side-effects, functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) has been applied in central nervous system (CNS) neurotransmission, recovery from nervous exhaustion, bone healing, treatment of neural disorders and research of brain function, and so on.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of FMS on voiding dysfunction.DESIGN: In this study, sacral third nerve root (S3) and bladder FMS was applied in treatment on patients with voiding dysfunction.SETTING: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tongji Hospital,Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technique. PARTICIPANTS: Eight patients with voiding dysfunction in Department of Urinology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technique were recruited from June 2003 to june 2004. Of them, 3 had occult spinal dysraphism in lumbar-sacral vertebra, 4 had frequent micturition and urgency syndrome. All these three patients received long-term comprehensive treatment but had no satisfied effect. One patient had autistic disorder and underwent surgery on Hirschsprung's disease.METHODS: Eight patients with voiding dysfunction underwent S3 nerve root and bladder FMS by MagLite magnetic stimulation system (product of Dantec Company, Denmark), twice a day, five days a week and in a duration of 4-8 weeks. Quality of life (QOL) in patients with voiding dysfunction were assessed before and after treatment using the lower urinary tract syndrome (LUTS) score and QOL score (grade 0-6, lower grade represented higher QOL)as subjective measures (grade 0-5, lower grade represented better therapeutic effect).mean voided volume and the maximum voided volume before and after assessed.RESULTS: All of the 8 patients with a diagnosis of voiding dysfunction in the Department of Urology received FMS treatment and entered the statistition and urgency syndrome were improved significantly, with the urine frequency decreased, the mean voided volume increased and the urgency alleviated. Among them 3 were completely recovered and one has no thera273 and the post-treatment score was 52. Before treatment, the QOL score affected by LUTS and after treatment, the score decreased to 11.CONCLUSION: FMS can partly improve the symptoms of refractory voiding dysfunction and improve the quality of life.