Emptying cystometry: A feasibility and validation pilot study on female patients

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Nephrology
• Physiology

Background:

• Overactive detrusor impacts neurological patients, often requiring anticholinergic or botulinum toxin treatments.
• Current manometric follow-up can be complex, necessitating simpler monitoring methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of emptying cystometry.
• To determine if emptying cystometry can simplify manometric follow-up for overactive detrusor in neurological patients.

Main Methods:

• Female patients with stable detrusor underwent conventional cystometry and emptying cystometry.
• Emptying cystometry involved sequential bladder pressure measurements during voiding using a catheter and graduated tube.
• Detrusor pressure was measured every 50mL during bladder emptying.

Main Results:

• Eleven female patients (mean age 59.4 years), nine with neurogenic bladder, were included.
• Mean detrusor pressure during filling cystometry was 1.7 cmH2O and during emptying cystometry was 2.3 cmH2O.
• Good agreement (ICC=0.66) and high correlation (r=0.7) were found between detrusor pressures from both methods.

Conclusions:

• Emptying cystometry demonstrates similar detrusor pressure results to conventional filling cystometry in a selected patient group.
• This technique offers a potential method for home monitoring of bladder pressures.
• It may be particularly useful for patients with intermittent catheterization needing overactive detrusor manometric follow-up.