Bladder volume

I am interested to know how the doctors on here assess the capacity of their patients bladders? I know that it is possible to do this via catheter insertion and filling the bladder with sterile saline. However, as I have a history of UTIs, even with the most careful respect to sterile procedure, this is not an approach I would really like to take - I don't consider the risk of a UTI as acceptable for play.

I suppose an alternative would be to drink fluids until the need to urinate was unbearable, but again I'm not sure how accurate a reflection of true bladder capacity is - I know that my bladder triggers well before it is really full.

Does anyone use, or know of, any non-invasive techniques for assessing bladder capacity?

Drink lots of water and then have a ultrasound bladder scan. The bladder volume can be calculated.

Um... lets see.. don't pee until you REALLY GOTTA GO, then pee into some kind of container that lets you measure?

Gotta be easier and cheaper then finding a good used ultrasound machine on e-bay, having it shipped, setting it up, learning how to use it, then getting scanned to measure the volume. Just saying...

Go out and get you a condom catheter kit. They shouldn't be that expensive to get and should be realativly easy to use without the chance of you getting a UTI. If it were me I would get the 2000 MLovernight bag andhook it up that way. Try it that way and see if you can get results that way.

Catheyerboy, I'm not really sure what you're getting at. If you are somehow able to get fluid into the bladder with one of those, the risk of an infection is just as high of not higher than that of using a regular catheter with sterile technique. If you're just talking about peeing through one into a collection bag, how is this different than peering into some kind of container that lets you measure?

Go out and get you a condom catheter kit. They shouldn't be that expensive to get and should be realativly easy to use without the chance of you getting a UTI. If it were me I would get the 2000 MLovernight bag andhook it up that way. Try it that way and see if you can get results that way.

catheterboy refers to a condom catheter kit - this is a sheath like a condom which fits over the head of the penis and has a drain tube. It is not invasive of the urethra or bladder and thus, as he says, unlikely to give you a UTI. It is also not going to be any more accurate than waiting until you need to urinate and then doing so into a measuring container, either as a one off measurement or a time based micturition record.

That being said I see no point in the original question. There is information on bladder size/volume on the internet though typically, as with most of these sorts of information, there is wide variation. Just knowing what your bladder capacity is will not improve the capacity. The rate the bladder fills from the kidneys will be determined by a host of factors including what it is that you drink, how much and what type of food you eat, your metabolism, whether you are active or sedentary etc, etc.

Thanks for the responses. I asked the question in light of the wide variation in figures i'd found on the internet. I also knew that everyone has a different capacity based on the factory mentioned. I guess the question was also brought about be something I read which suggested that during investigations for incontinence, the bladder can be filled until the patient initially feels the need to urinate and then continued until the bladder contracted without the patient's control (thus giving vital capacity). As I believe my bladder feels full before it really is, I was curious of an easy, safe, way to determine the two values. Sorry if the question was not really appropriate for the forum.

I had a period of moderate incontinence. The nurse practitioner had me hold it as long as I could and then measure what I urinated out. Over several days I averaged 235 cc. When she did post voiding bladder scans the average residual urine was about 125cc. So may be I have 360cc capacity.

When they do it urodynamics study, they pump you full via a catheter till you can't stand it or leak. They expect that at about 500ml. Sometimes they'll go to 6 or 700. After that, they assume that you have difficulty perceiving a full bladder. Of course, if you try, you can train your bladder to hold more. The tissuewill sstretch over time.

I had my urodynamics study yesterday. I took 750ml before I had to pee.

I have had a urodynamics study before and I had just over 900 mililitres in my bladder.