Dysfunctional urinary voiding in women with functional defecatory disorders

While pelvic floor dysfunction may manifest with bladder or bowel symptoms, the relationship between functional defecatory disorders and dysfunctional voiding is unclear. Our hypothesis was that patients with defecatory disorders have generalized pelvic floor dysfunction, manifesting as dysfunctional urinary voiding.

Voiding was assessed by a symptom questionnaire, a voiding diary, uroflowmetry, and by measuring the postvoid residual urine volume in this case-control study of 28 patients with a functional defecatory disorder (36 ± 2 years, mean ± SEM) and 30 healthy women (36 ± 2 years).

Women with a defecatory disorder frequently reported urinary symptoms: urgency (61%), frequency (36%), straining to begin (21%), or finish (50%) voiding, and the sense of incomplete emptying (54%). Fluid intake and output, the minimum voided volume, and the shortest duration between voids measured by voiding diaries were higher (P < 0.05) in patients than in controls. Uroflowmetry revealed abnormalities in seven controls and 22 patients. The risk of abnormal voiding by uroflowmetry was higher in patients (OR 8.0; 95% CI, 2.3-26.9) than in controls. Patients took longer than controls (P < 0.01) to attain the maximum urinary flow rate (12 ± 2 VS 4 ± 0 s) and to empty the bladder (29 ± 4 VS 20 ± 2 s), but the maximum urinary flow rate and postvoid residual volumes were not significantly different.

Symptoms of dysfunctional voiding and uroflowmetric abnormalities occurred more frequently, suggesting of disordered urination, in women with a defecatory disorder than in healthy controls.