Bladder Wall Thickness in Symptomatic Urinary Stress Incontinence and Its Correlation with Urodynamics Results

Overview

This clinical study aims to assess the utility of ultrasonographic bladder wall thickness (BWT) measurement in patients suffering from symptomatic stress urinary incontinence (SUI). SUI is a condition characterized by involuntary leakage of urine during activities that increase intra-abdominal pressure and represents a very frequent disorder impacting women's quality of life. To diagnose SUI more accurately and especially before surgical treatment, patients undergo invasive urodynamic examination. This examination allows us to objectify the presence of any bladder dysfunction and, in particular, to evaluate the presence of detrusor overactivity. Detrusor overactivity is defined as any occurrence of detrusor contraction(s) during filing cystometry. These contractions, which may be spontaneous or provoked, produce a waveform on the cystogram, of variable duration and amplitude and may cause or not urgency symptoms. In absence of any urodynamic detrusor overactivity, the patient may be diagnosed with pure SUI. This is essential to assess before surgical treatment to avoid worsening of symptoms and to decide whether to treat the patient with concomitant pharmacological treatment. On the contrary, ultrasonography offers a non-invasive and accessible approach to evaluate bladder function. This study will involve a cohort of patients with SUI, who will undergo ultrasonographic assessment of BWT and preoperative urodynamic assessment. The objective is to determine whether BWT correlates with the urodynamics results and whether it can predict the presence or absence of detrusor overactivity and confirm the pure stress urinary incontinence

Conditions