Classification of and Treatment Principles for Bladder Dysfunction Caused by Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Bladder dysfunction caused by spinal cord injury is one of the most difficult clinical problems not yet solved. It often causes severe urinary incontinence, urinary retention and urinary tract infection, or even renal failure leading to death [1, 2]. Exploration of ways to solve this problem is very important to the improvement of paraplegic patients’ quality of life and reduction of their mortality rate. Urodynamic examination has an exact value in the diagnosis, classification, treatment and prognosis of lower urinary tract dysfunction of patients with spinal cord injury. It can classify bladders, thereby providing timely objective indicators on which to base the diagnosis and treatment of patients with lower urinary tract dysfunction. We performed a systematic examination of lower urinary tract function of 136 patients with spinal cord injury, established a relatively detailed and systematic classification and set treatment principles correspondingly.