The Clinical Measurements Division of Medical Physics has over 35 years experience in Urodynamics. It provides a Urodynamics service for the departments of Urology and Uro-gynaecology at the Leicester General Hospital and the Children's Hospital at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Patients suffering from bladder dysfunction are referred for diagnosis to out patient clinics run by medical staff and nurse specialists. Fully trained Medical Physics Technicians provide comprehensive monitoring and technical support by operating the computerised diagnostic test equipment. Bladder and abdominal pressures are recorded along with infused and voided volumes during the process of bladder filling and emptying to assess bladder function. The test would normally take 30-45 minutes to perform. It involves the placement by our clinical colleagues of a small catheter, used to fill the bladder and record the pressures, and another catheter is placed in the rectum or vagina, to record abdominal pressures. Great care is taken by our staff to preserve the dignity of the patients during this potentially embarrassing procedure. For more complex cases Urodynamics may be performed in X-ray where the bladder can be simultaneously screened.
For adults the tests are mainly arranged for females with stress and/or urge incontinence and for males with frequency and/or urgency and low flow rates which affects bladder emptying. The test results would indicate the need for further conservative management, drug therapy or surgery.
Paediatric Urodynamics may be performed on children of all ages, and is combined with screening of the bladder by X-ray. Urodynamic assessment for children is carried out either to assess known neuropathy, to ensure the bladder is safe for renal health, or to diagnose outflow problems in children and young people who present with complex symptoms and who fail to respond to first line approaches. The investigation is always led by a qualified Children’s Urology Nurse Specialist.
