 Surgeries Urodynamic Testing
Urodynamic Testing Before Surgery (for Urinary Symptoms) For such patients, the doctor will make sure that there's no bladder infection causing the symptoms. After that, the Urodynamic test can be performed in the doctor's office in a very short amount of time. It is a painless test that involves placing a small catheter in the urinary bladder and another one for a short distance into the rectum. The bladder is then slowly filled with sterile water to measure the size, pressure and sensitivity of the bladder. During the test patients are asked to cough and strain while very specific measurements are taken using computerized equipment and fiberoptic technology. At the same time, the doctor checks to see if there is leakage or spasm of the bladder. When the patient's bladder is full with water, she then voids into a special commode to see how well she is able to empty her bladder. Computerized graphs which display a great deal of useful information are then generated. Dr. Pizarro carefully reviews the information to see whether there are any visible causes of the symptoms that the patient is experiencing. Such causes could be a very overactive bladder, a weakened opening of the bladder (the urethra), a weak bladder muscle, or blockage of urinary flow. Although the test is not perfect, Dr. Pizarro finds it useful in counseling patients and in helping to determine treatments. In particular, when a patient is considering surgery for repair of urinary leakage or disorders of pelvic support, he thinks it is important to get as much information about how the bladder is behaving. | 
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