Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Overactive bladder; Detrusor instability; Detrusor hyperreflexia; Irritable bladder; Spasmodic bladder; Unstable bladder; Incontinence - urge; Bladder spasms
Symptoms
- Frequent urination, in the daytime and at night
- Involuntary loss of urine
- Sudden and
urgent need to urinate (urinary urgency)
Signs and tests
During a physical examination, the health care provider will look at the abdomen and rectum. Women will also have a pelvic exam. Men will also have a genital exam. In most cases the physical exam reveals nothing abnormal.
If there are nervous system (neurologic) causes, other abnormalities may be found.
Tests include the following:
-
EMG (myogram) - rarely needed - Inspection of the inside of the bladder (
cystoscopy ) - Pad test (after placement of a previously weighed sanitary pad, the patient exercises, then the pad is weighed to determine urine loss)
- Pelvic or
abdominal ultrasound - Post-void residual volume (PVR) to measure amount of urine left after urination
-
Urinalysis orurine culture to rule outurinary tract infection - Urinary stress test (the patient stands with a full bladder and coughs)
- Urodynamic studies (measurement of pressure and urine flow)
- X-rays with contrast dye
Further tests will be performed to rule out other types of incontinence. The "Q-tip test" measures the change in the angle of the urethra at rest and when straining. An angle change of greater than 30 degrees often is a sign that the muscles supporting the bladder are weak. This is common in stress incontinence.
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Review Date: 03/05/2010
Reviewed By: A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, David R. Eltz.
Previously reviewed by Louis S. Liou, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor
of Urology, Department of Surgery, Boston University School of
Medicine (8/30/2009).
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
