Voiding dysfunction and urodynamic findings in patients with cervical spondylotic spinal stenosis compared with...

A group of 30 consecutive patients (26 men and 4 women, mean age 51 years), with clinically and radiologically verified cervical spondylosis causing radiculopathy and/or myelopathy, were questioned about voiding symptoms, examined urodynamically and subjected to tests of tibial somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP). Seventeen patients (61%) complained of irritative bladder symptoms and detrusor hyperactivity was demonstrated urodynamically in 13 (46%). Three (11%) experienced difficulty in emptying the bladder, and all of these had a hypotonic detrusor. The bladder was insensitive to cold in 36%, this and SEP abnormalities being more common in the patients with clinically severe myelopathy, whereas detrusor hyperactivity was found equally in all patients. Urodynamic investigation seems to provide additional information on the severity of the disease and is therefore recommended for wider use in these patients.