Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) affect one in three of all men in later life. The measurement of bladder pressure is helpful in confirming the diagnosis of bladder outflow obstruction, and some authorities believe that an invasive pressure/flow study (PFS) should always be performed before surgical intervention to alleviate outflow obstruction. However, the time, discomfort, morbidity and expense associated with the PFS mean that in practice, many patients undergo surgery on the basis of symptoms alone.
In previous years, data have been presented from a proposed non-invasive test to measure bladder pressure. In the reported test, the bladder pressure was measured by inflating a penile cuff to the point at which flow stops, exactly as for non-invasive blood pressure measurement. It is hoped that the new test will yield some of the important information provided by the PFS while minimising the risks to the patient and the resources required in the clinic. The aim of the current study was to assess an underlying assumption of this approach: that the urethral lumen from bladder to penis remains open for the duration of the test.
There is a close relationship between intra-vesical and intra-urethral pressure. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the urethral lumen remains open for the duration of the test, a conclusion borne out by the close relationship between Pcuff and Pves reported in this study and in earlier work.
Drinnan MJ, Johnston A, Macdonald A, Robson W, Pickard RS, Ramsden PD, Griffiths CJ. Comparison of bladder pressure, urethral pressure and cuff pressure during interruption of flow by inflation of a penile-cuff. Neurourol Urodynam 2001;20:384-5.
Clive J. Griffiths or Dr. Michael J. Drinnan, Freeman Unit, Newcastle upon Tyne. Tel: +44 (0)191-223-6161.
Regional Medical Physics Department, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK.
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