Upon your arrival, you will be asked to empty your bladder
into a uroflow meter that records the volume urinated
and how fast you are urinating. A physical examination
will be done as part of the study.
If you are coming for video-urodynamics, you will report
to the Day Surgery Suite (Level 3) where you will change
into a hospital gown.
For routine urodynamics, you will only be required
to remove your pants.
Your genital area will first be cleansed. Local anaesthetic
gel that also acts as lubrication to ease the passage
of catheters will be squirted into the urethra. Fine
tubes called catheters are then inserted into your urethra
while you lie down on a table. Another catheter will
be inserted into your rectum (anus). These catheters,
needed for measuring the pressures within your bladder,
are connected to a computerised urodynamics machine.
The bladder is filled gradually with sterile saline
solution (contrast added in video-urodynamics) through
the catheter. While that is happening, you will be asked
to describe how it feels.
You may also be asked to cough or strain, and urine
might escape involuntarily. This is normal as the activity
tests your bladder control.
After the bladder is filled, you will be asked to empty
it into the uroflow meter again. This time, the pressure
in the bladder is recorded in addition to the speed
and volume of urine produced.
The test takes approximately half an hour. At the end
of it, the catheters are removed and the doctor will
discuss the findings of the test with you.
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