The Behaviour of the Bladder During Physical Activity

Abstract

The technical difficulties of obtaining reliable recordings of bladder, rectal and detrusor pressures from patients who are standing, walking or exercising have been largely overcome by a method described in this paper. The recordings help us to understand the behaviour of the lower urinary tract during physical activity and are of value in the diagnosis of urological problems, especially incontinence.

Prevalence of stress incontinence in nulliparous elite trampolinists

“…Their muscles seem to be strong enough to prevent leakage during coughing but not when landing on a trampoline. James (1978) found that the highest bladder pressure occured during coughing. However, the occurrence of reflex pelvic muscular activity during cough has been reported (Constantinou & Govan, 1982).…”

Ambulatory urodynamic monitoring

“…Fluid filled catheters are adequate for the demands of conventional cystometry but are prone to artefacts caused by the acceleration of the liquid within the system on movement of the patient or equipment. In 1978, James overcame this by employing an air coupled system 8 . He used this in preference to a new type of measuring catheter, namely the microtransducer, with which he had experienced the problems of expense and high failure rates.…”

Air filled, including “air‐charged,” catheters in urodynamic studies: does the evidence justify their use?

“…Hence, the patients he investigated in Exeter were able to move more freely around the urodynamic laboratory and to perform a wide range of provocation exercises during UDS, particularly to demonstrate exercise‐induced stress urinary incontinence and detrusor overactivity. Dr James published the background to his methodology during the late 1970s . This not only described the advantages of AFCs during ambulant UDS, but also described the advantages of concurrently using an electronic perineal pad which approximately quantified the volume, but more importantly the timing, of urine losses and their relationship with urodynamic pressure changes .…”