Neurophysiological measurements in primary adult enuretics

Abstract

The nerve supply of the lower urinary tract was studied in 25 primary adult enuretics by full urodynamic assessment and neurophysiological measurements. The latter consisted of the measurement of static EMG, sensory thresholds and sacral reflex latencies (SRL). All patients were normal on clinical neurological examination. All neurophysiological measurements were within normal limits in only three patients and the remaining 22 had at least one abnormal response. The commonest abnormality was a high or even absent urethral sensory threshold. These defects in sensory and motor innervation correlated with the clinical dysfunction. It was concluded that this is a valuable method for the detection of nerve defects in the lower urinary tract, especially when the clinical neurological examination is normal.