The reason to do urodynamic studies when appropriate is, because symptoms like incontinence, frequency of urination, urgency, can be secondary to a myriad of things, including infections, kidney stones, overactive bladder. The urodynamics will tell us exactly what the problem is, exactly how the bladder works, exactly how the nerves of the bladder works, exactly how the muscle of the bladder works. And once you have all this detailed information, then you can appropriately guide someone as to what is the most appropriate treatment for the problem they’re having.

Without it, it’s basically you’re just guessing. So, they’re not always necessary, but we do them here in Northwoods Urology. Peggy Francis, which is one of our nurse practitioners kind of specializes in doing these tests. Of course, they’re interpreted by the physicians. And they’re good information for making good decisions. The decision to do a urodynamic study, which basically includes a electrode that measures the electrical activity of the sphincter, a probe that measures the pressures of the bladder, it’s decided either by the symptoms that someone is having, or a lot of times we’ll get referrals from gynecologists and other physicians with patients that have similar problems, that they can not figure out what the problem is.

So, we’ll do the study, sort it out and then give them guidance as far as what they need to do. For more details on the urodynamic studies, please go to Peggy Francis’s video. She’s got a detailed explanation of exactly how the procedure is done and also information on how to schedule one. Or if you think you have a problem, ask your physician to refer you to us.

To learn more about Urodynamic Testing, watch Peggy’s video here