We carried out a urodynamic study pre and post-operatively in nine patients who had neurogenic bladder caused by lumbar spinal disease and investigated their transition and prognosis.
The study involved five male and four female patients ranging in age from 37 to 72 years, average age 63 years. They consisted of six lumbar spinal canal stenosis, and one case each of lumbar disc herniation, epidural abscess and epidural tumor.
Six patients recovered but three did not. Three patients in the recovered group had no urinary symptoms and the other three had only mild symptoms such as difficulty of urination or a sense oresidual urine. On the other hand, the patients in the non-recovery group suffered from severe symptoms, such as anuresis.
However the duration of urinary symptoms in the recovered group was longer than in the non-recovery group.
From this study, we concluded that conditions for recovery of the neurogenic bladder include both the possibility of urination even if compensated by abdominal presssure and for the patient to have a moderate remaining sense of the urinary bladder.
