Interaction of sensory and contractile bladder function in patients with suprapubic tube

Introduction. The gold standard for assessment of urinary bladder function is a comprehensive urodynamic study. In clinical practice, there is a great need for inexpensive and minimally invasive diagnostic tool to provide information about bladder function in patients with suprapubic drainage. Objective. To evaluate the diagnostic value of a functional bladder filling test to assess bladder contractile function in patients with suprapubic tube. Materials & methods. The study included 70 men with suprapubic tube initially placed for urinary retention due to BPO/BPH. A month after cystostomy, patients were assessed for the functional state of the detrusor. It consisted of filling tests assessing the sensory functions of the bladder and urodynamic data obtained during cystometry at the attempt of urination. Finally, a comparison of the results of both tests was carried out. Results. Assessment of sensory bladder function showed that 43 patients had normal sensitivity, 24 had reduced sensory function, and 3 patients had no sensitivity. In patients with normal sensitivity, the maximum detrusor pressure (Pdet) was 83.2 ± 46.4 cm H₂O. Among patients with reduced sensitivity, the maximum Pdet was 16.8 ± 3.1 cm H₂O, which placed them in the category of unsatisfactory contractile bladder function. In patients with no bladder sensitivity, there was no increase in Pdet during attempted urination, indicating the absence of contractile bladder function. Thus, bladder sensitivity correlated with indicators of its contractility (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Our study demonstrates the correlation between the results of the clinical method for assessing bladder function and those of urodynamic testing. The functional test conducted proved its reliability in evaluating bladder sensitivity and contractility, particularly in situations where performing a standard urodynamic study is difficult.