Better answers.
The best predictor of symptom relief is a healthy, functioning bladder.
For men with BPH, maintaining a healthy, properly functioning bladder is key to long-term health and well-being. Your bladder’s ability to “pump” urine out of the body is directly related to BPH symptoms like frequency (going often), nocturia (going often at night), hesitancy (trouble starting), poor stream, and dribbling.
Depending on the health of your bladder, your symptoms and your overall health, you and your urologist will determine the best options to treat your prostate.
What is The UroCuff Test?
The UroCuff Test provides your urologist with information about your bladder function to better understand the causes of your symptoms. The UroCuff is a non-invasive diagnostic test for male urinary disorders (LUTS). This test allows your urologist to collect important data about your bladder function while you urinate.
How It Works
The UroCuff Test measures the amount of pressure generated by your bladder, your urine flow rate and amount of urine that you void.
- A small cuff is fitted to penis.
- Patient begins to void into a flow meter.
- The cuff inflates until flow is reduced or interrupted.
- Cuff rapidly deflates, allowing flow to resume.
- Cycle repeats until the patient is empty.
- Bladder function is determined from interruption pressure vs. flow rate.
- The UroCuff report summarizes the results on a modified nomogram.
Preparing for the Test
It is important that you arrive at your doctor’s office with a comfortably full bladder. You should feel something like the “Need to go” face on the Urgency Scale shown here. If you need more information, click on the link provided to the right to download instructions on “How to prepare for a successful UroCuff Test.”
Simply follow the instructions provided below to ensure that your time in the doctor’s office goes smoothly.
- Drink 32 oz. of water 1 hour before your appointment.
- Arrive at doctor’s office 10 minutes before your appointment.
- Arrive with a comfortably full bladder as shown by the orange face on Urgency Scale.
- Check in at the reception desk. Let them know that you are scheduled for a UroCuff Test and communicate how full your bladder is.
- DO NOT go to the bathroom before your test (you need a full bladder).
- Wait in the waiting room for a clinician to collect you for your UroCuff test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who needs UroCuff testing?
Most patients referred for UroCuff testing have complaints of frequent urination or difficulty urinating, though there are other applications.
What is the purpose of the UroCuff test?
UroCuff Testing allows your doctor to evaluate how your bladder and the bladder outlet are functioning. With this information, your doctor will better understand your specific bladder health which will help in choosing a treatment plan that is best for you.
How long will it take to test?
The test usually takes between 5 to 10 minutes.
Should I take my medication the day of the test?
Please continue to take your medications unless your urologist instructs you otherwise.
Is the test uncomfortable?
For most patients, the test is not uncomfortable. Some patients may experience mild discomfort while the cuff is inflating.
How should I prepare for the test?
The UroCuff test must be performed when you have a full bladder. If possible, arrive at the doctor’s office the day of your test with a comfortably full bladder.
What will happen during my test?
When you arrive and are ready for your test, you will be brought to a private room. A small cuff is fitted to your penis, and surface electrodes may also be placed on your abdomen and/ or perineum. You will be asked to void (urinate) into a portable commode, or toilet. While you’re voiding, the cuff will slowly inflate until the cuff pressure reduces or stops the urine flow. The cuff will then deflate and you will begin voiding again. The inflation intervals will continue until you’ve emptied your bladder completely. The cuff and electrodes will then be removed.
What will happen after my test is complete?
Your doctor will review your test results and discuss treatment options with you.
Anatomy of Urinary System
The bladder is an elastic organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys before disposal by urination. Urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra. In the male anatomy, the urethra passes through the prostate, which is an exocrine (excretion) gland of the male reproductive system. In order to urinate, two things must happen. The detrusor muscle (a smooth muscle found in the wall of the bladder) must contract the bladder to squeeze the urine from the bladder and the external urethral sphincter muscle must relax to allow urine to exit the bladder via the urethra.
There are several reasons why you might experience voiding difficulties.
Two common reasons are:
(1) Bladder Outlet Obstruction and
(2) Low Bladder Contractility.
When the prostate is enlarged or swollen, it constricts the urethra, narrowing the passageway of the urine out of the body, and impedes the urine. This is known as Bladder Outlet Obstruction (BOO).
Common symptoms for both BOO and Low Bladder Contractility are:
- Frequency.
- Urgency.
- Dysuria (painful urination).
- Nocturia (the need to get up in the night to urinate).
- Poor stream.
- Hesitancy (a delay between trying to urinate and the flow actually beginning).
- Terminal dribbling.
- Incomplete voiding (urine still remaining in bladder).
- Overflow incontinence (involuntary release of urine from an overly fully bladder, often in the absence of any urge to urinate).
Symptoms related to storing and voiding urine are known as Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS).