Air-charged and microtransducer urodynamic catheters in the evaluation of urethral function

Abstract

This study aimed to compare measurements of urethral pressure profile and Valsalva leak point pressure (VLPP) obtained with air-charged and microtransducer catheters. Forty-five women with urogynecologic dysfunction underwent multichannel urodynamic evaluation including maximum urethral closure pressure (MUCP), functional urethral length (FUL), and VLPP with air-charged balloon catheters as well as microtransducer catheters. Lin's concordance coefficient was used to examine the agreement of MUCP, VLPP, and FUL measurements with the two catheters. The MUCPs measured with the two catheters had a high concordance coefficient of 0.69 (95% CI 0.50, 0.82). The VLPP measurements obtained with the catheters also agreed well, with a concordance coefficient of 0.71 (95% CI 0.43, 0.87). The measurements of mean FUL had a low concordance of 0.35 (95% CI 0.085, 0.57). Overall, air-charged and microtransducer catheters yield similar information when evaluating VLPP and MUCP. There were differences in FUL and these were likely due to different catheter diameters.