A Urodynamics study is a series of tests that gives your doctor a detailed look at the function of your bladder and urethra. These tests can help your doctor evaluate any problems you may be having with storing urine or voiding (eliminating) urine from your body.

Why You Need a Urodynamics Study

A Urodynamics study may be recommended if you have problems with storing or voiding urine, and your doctor needs to evaluate these problems further. Possible problems that you may have include the following:
* You may be incontinent (leak urine).
* Your bladder may not empty correctly.
* You may have symptoms, such as the frequent need to urinate or a constant, urgent need to urinate.
* Your urine stream may be intermittent or weak.
* You may have persistent urinary tract infection.

Preparing for the Study

You will be told how to prepare for the Urodynamics study. Tell your doctor which medications you are taking, and ask whether you should stop them before the study. You need to arrive for the study with a full bladder.

The study may be done in the doctor's office, a clinic, or a hospital. Depending on which tests are being done, the study may take up to an hour or more. The tests are generally painless, so you do not need any sedating medication.

Tests that May Be Done

At a certain points during the study, you'll probably be asked to urinate. Try to relax to help make the study results as realistic and reliable as possible. A catheter (soft, hollow tube) or special sensor may be placed in your urethra and sometimes your rectum to help with the study. Tests that maybe done during the study include:

• Uroflowmetry: This test measures the amount & speed of urine you void from your bladder. You urinate into a funnel attached to a computer that records your urine flow overtime. The amount of urine left in your bladder after you void also be measured immediately after this test.
• Cystometry: This test evaluates how much the bladder can hold, how strong the bladder muscle is, and how well the signals work that tell you when your bladder is full. Through catheter, your bladder is filled with sterile water or saline solution. You are asked to report any sensations you feel & whether they are similar to symptoms you have felt at home. You may be asked to cough, stand and walk or bear down during this test.
• Electromyogram: This test helps evaluate the muscle contractions that control urination. Electrode patches or wires may be placed near the rectum or urethra to make the recording. You may be asked to try to tighten or relaxed sphincter muscles may during this test.
• Pressure flow study: This test measures the pressure & flow of urine out of your bladder. It is often performed after cystometry. You are asked to urinate while a probe in the a urethra measures pressures.
• Video cystourethrography: This test takes video pictures of urine flow through the urinary tract. It can help identify blockage or other problems. The bladder is filled with an x-ray fluid, then x-ray video pictures are taken as the fluid is urinated out.

Your urinary tract helps to get rid of urine (your body's liquid waste). The lower part of the urinary tract includes the bladder (which stores urine until you are ready to release it) and the urethra (the canal that carries urine from the bladder out of the body). Signals from the brain tell the sphincter (muscles around the opening of the bladder) when to relax and the bladder when to contract to let urine flow out of the body. A problem with the nerves or muscles in the urinary tract or blockage along the urinary may cause problems with storing urine or emptying your bladder.