For all the years that I have been living with spinal cord and chronic renal failure, I have not had a urodynamics study done to determine the pressure in my bladder. This test is needed to determine whether the pressure in the bladder will cause a reflux and further damage to the kidneys.
I had one done at SJMC last Saturday for once and for all as to see if the pressure in my bladder is the cause of my renal failure and whether I need further treatment. I have been waiting to get it done at UMMC but two appointments were cancelled. The first time was because the urologist was away and the second because the urodynamics clinic was under renovation.
All garbed up at SJMC waiting for the urodynamics study to commence.
Photo by Wuan.
There is usually a six-month waiting period at UMMC but it would have been done free of charge there as I hold the Kad Orang Kurang Upaya from the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia. It costs RM1,500 at SJMC. Another urodynamics study was schduled for mid-June at UMMC but I thought I better get it done first at SJMC just in case the one at UMMC gets cancelled again.
The procedure was not as embarrassing as I had anticipated. The technician was very patient in explaining the entire procedure and made me feel at ease even though I was bare-bottomed throughout. A thin tube was inserted through the urethra into the bladder and another into the rectum. The tubes were connected to a device that fills up the bladder with saline at a pre-determined rates – 30ml/min and 15ml/min, measured the pressure in the bladder as it filled up until urine started to leak.
The equipment used for the urodynamics study.
Photo by Wuan.
Another device was placed right below my seat to measure the amount of urine that leaked. After that, the residual urine in the bladder was sucked out with a syringe and measured. The results showed that the presurre in my bladder is normal until the volume is around 300ml where the pressure rises to slightly more than 50cmH2O and the fluid started to leak. The leaked volume was around 100ml while residual volume was around 200ml.
According to the urologist, as long as I keep up with my three hourly intermittent catheterisation programme, it should not be a cause for concern as reflected by the results. No further treatment or medication is necessary. He recommended that I get the urodynamics study done every two years. He also checked the lump in my scrotum which has gotten smaller after a two-week course of antibiotics. I am to go back to see him in two months to get the lump checked again.
