Post-trauma Bladder Management Strategy Influences Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction after Spinal Cord Injury in the Mouse Model

Hypothesis / aims of study Spinal cord injury (SCI) rostral to the lumbosacral level eliminates voluntary and supraspinal control of voiding, leading initially to areflexic bladder and urinary retention, and then to a development of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) such as detrusor overactivity (DO) and inefficient voiding due to detrusor sphincter dyssynergia (DSD). Although many factors contribute to the emergence of LUTD after SCI, bladder overdistention and high storage pressure due to DSD are considered to be involved in the progress of LUTD after SCI [1]. Thus, we hypothesized that the post-trauma bladder management that reduces bladder overdistention and high pressure storage after SCI could alter the severity of SCI-associated LUTD in the later phase. In this study, we therefore examined the effects of different frequency of daily bladder squeezes (once to three times) on storage and voiding function parameters during awake cystometry in a mouse model of SCI.