glossary
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J, K - L, M - N - O - P - Q, R - S - T - U - V, W, X, Y
Absorbent products: Pads and garments, either disposable or reusable, worn to contain urinary leakage. Absorbent products include shields, guards, undergarment pads, and combination pad-pant systems, diaper like garments, and bed pads.
Acetylcholine: A substance that plays an important part in the transmission of nerve impulses in the parasympathetic nervous system. This system controls smooth muscles including those of the bladder and urethra.
Acute Incontinence: urine leakage (incontinence) that comes on suddenly, usually caused by a new illness or condition and can often be reversed with appropriate treatment of the condition that caused it.
Afferent nerve pathway: nerve pathways carrying sensory impulses (messages) to the spinal cord and brain.
Alpha-adrenergic blocker: type of medication that increases the resistance at the connection between the bladder (called the bladder neck) and the urethra. It tightens the bladder neck keeping it closed. These medications are usually prescribed for stress UI.
Anal sphincters: The muscles in the anus (opening to the rectum).
Anesthesia: Loss of sensation in any part of the body induced by a numbing or paralyzing agent. Often used during surgery to put a person to sleep.
Antibacterial: Type of medication used to kill bacteria that cause infection.
Anticholinergic: A drug that interferes with the effects of acetylcholine. These drugs assist with bladder storage by increasing bladder contractions and are used to treat urge incontinence.
Anti-incontinence surgery: The use of surgical procedures to treat urinary incontinence (see artificial urinary sphincter, bladder suspension, periurethral bulking injections, sling procedures.)
Anus: The final two inches of the rectum, surrounded by the internal anal sphincter and the external sphincter. Stool is passed through the anus, which is an opening.
Artificial urinary sphincter: A mechanical device surgically implanted into the patient that consists of a cuff, placed around the bulbar urethra or bladder neck, a pressure-regulating balloon, and a pump. The device is used to control opening and closing of the urethra manually and is the most commonly used surgical procedure for the treatment of male urethral insufficiency.
Atonic bladder: Also referred to as a lower motor neuron bladder. Often caused by peripheral neuropathies, such as diabetes mellitus. The bladder is flaccid and over distended with urine and overflow incontinence may occur.
Autoimmune: A condition in which the body produces antibodies to its own tissue.
Bacteria: microscopic organisms that can cause infection and are usually treated with antibiotics.
Bedside commode: A portable toilet used by individuals who have difficulty walking to standard facilities.
Behavioral techniques: Specific treatments designed to alter the relationship between the patient's symptoms and his/her behavior and/or environment for the treatment of maladaptive urinary voiding patterns. This may be achieved by modification of the behavior and/or environment of the patient (see biofeedback, bladder training, electrical stimulation, habit training, pelvic muscle exercises, prompted voiding.)
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH): A common disorder of men over the age of 50 characterized by enlargement of the prostate which may press against the urethra and interfere with the flow of urine causing overflow incontinence. BPH is the most common cause of such anatomic obstruction in elderly men.
Biofeedback Therapy: A behavioral technique in which a person learns how to consciously control involuntary responses such as muscle contractions. The person receives a visual, auditory, or tactile signal (the feedback) that indicates how well the person's muscles are responding to the commands of the person's nervous system. The signal is from a measurable physiologic parameter, which is used in an educational process to accomplish a specific therapeutic result. The signal is displayed in a quantitative way, and the patient is taught how to alter it and thus control the physiologic process. This technique is used most often to teach pelvic muscle exercises.
Bladder: The bladder is a muscular organ, which lies in the pelvis and is supported by the pelvic floor muscle. The bladder has only two functions; to stretch to allow the storage of urine and to contract to enable the expulsion of urine. The term detrusor is used to refer to the smooth muscle structure of the bladder.
Bladder Capacity: The amount (maximum volume) of urine that the bladder can hold. Often referred to as bladder volume.
Bladder diary or record: a daily record of bladder habits, documenting voiding (urination) and episodes of incontinence.
Bladder neck: Area of the bladder where the bladder joins the urethra. This area contains the internal sphincter and is a thick layer of muscle fibers.
Bladder suspension: Also called bladder neck suspension. A term for several surgical procedures employed to treat urethral hyper mobility by elevating and securing the bladder to its proper position within the body. Used for stress UI. The two major types of bladder suspension surgical procedures are:
Retropubic suspension: Consists of several different surgical techniques performed through a low abdominal incision. All techniques are designed to elevate (lift) the lower urinary tract within the retropubic space, differing only in the structures and techniques used to achieve the elevation.
Needle bladder neck suspension: Consists of several different surgical techniques performed through a vaginal approach and small low abdominal incision; all involve the use of a long needle to transfer the sutures adjacent to the urethra and bladder neck through the retropubic space into the abdominal wall anterior to the rectus fascia where the sutures are fastened or anchored.
Bladder training: A behavioral technique that requires the person to resist or inhibit the sensation of urgency (the strong desire to urinate), to postpone voiding, and to urinate according to a timetable rather than to the urge to void.
Bladder ultrasound or bladder scan: a method of measuring the urine that remains in the bladder. This is a test that is used to diagnose incomplete bladder emptying. An ultrasound uses sound waves to measure the urine volume - it is painless and does not involve the use of radiation like x-rays.
Bone Anchors: A type of surgery for stress UI that uses "bone anchors" by drilling screws into the pelvic (pubic) bone to secure and lift (suspend) the bladder in a fixed position.
Bowel movement: The act of passing feces (stool) through the anus.
Bowels: Another word for intestines or colon.
Cancer: Uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that if left untreated takes control of an entire organ or even the entire body. Malignant neoplasm or tumor.
Catheter: a narrow flexible tube that is inserted into the urethra and into the bladder for the purpose of draining urine or performing diagnostic tests of bladder or urethral function.
Catheterization: a procedure in which a catheter is passed through the urethra and into the bladder for the purpose of draining urine and performing diagnostic tests of bladder or urethral function.
Cerebral Cortex: The part of the brain that is the master control center for voluntary (conscious) control of voiding (urination). Often referred to as the bladder micturition center, the cerebral cortex commands the bladder to hold urine until a socially acceptable time when voiding can occur.
Cholinergic: Fibers in the parasympathetic nervous system that release a chemical called acetylcholine.
Clinical practice guidelines: A set of systematically developed statements or recommendations designed to assist health care professionals and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. Such guidelines are designed to assist in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of specific clinical conditions.
Compression Device- Penile Clamp: device used by men to put direct pressure on the penis to compress the urethra preventing urine leakage. When the device is removed (unclamped), the bladder is allowed to drain.
Compliance: A term used for the bladder to determine its ability to stretch or expand. Persons can have a "poorly compliant bladder" which means that the bladder does not stretch as well and holds smaller amounts of urine (small capacity).
Constipation: A condition in which bowel movements are infrequent, hard and dry, and elimination of feces is difficult and infrequent.
Continence: The ability to exercise voluntary control over the urge (hold) to void (urinate) or defecate until an appropriate time and place can be found to void (or have a bowel movement).
Cystitis: irritation or inflammation (swelling) of the bladder usually caused by an infection.
Cystocele: A intrusion or bulging of the bladder into the vagina, usually caused when the vaginal muscles that support the bladder and urethra are stretched or damaged. Urine can pool or collect in the sac that protrudes becoming stagnant and serving as a convenient place for bacteria to grow. Woman with a cystocele may have repeated bladder infections.
Cystometry (cystometrogram) : A test used to assess the function of the bladder by measuring the pressure/volume as the bladder is slowly being filled. Cystometry is used to assess bladder, urge sensation, capacity, and compliance. There are different variations of the test depending on the problem being investigated, but regardless of the technique, cystometry involves insertion of a catheter into the bladder.
Cystourethrography: The use of x-ray imaging to examine the urinary bladder and urethra. In voiding cystourethrography, an x-ray picture of the bladder and urethra is obtained during urination.
Cystoscopy: Also called cystourethroscopy. A procedure used to diagnose urinary tract disorders and provide a direct view of the urethra and bladder by inserting a flexible scope into the urethra and then into the bladder.
Decreased bladder compliance: A failure to store urine in the bladder caused by the loss of bladder wall elasticity and of bladder accommodation. This condition may result from radiation cystitis or from inflammatory bladder conditions such as chemical cystitis, interstitial cystitis, and certain neurologic bladder disorders.
Defecate: The act of having a bowel movement.
Dehydration: A state that occurs when not enough fluid is present to fulfill the body's fluid needs.
Dementia: general loss of short- and long-term memory and mental deterioration. It may affect emotions, abstract thinking, judgment, impulse control, and learning and can cause functional incontinence.
Detrusor: In the urinary system, the detrusor muscle is the smooth muscle in the wall of the bladder that contracts the bladder and expels the urine. The bladder is often referred to as the detrusor muscle.
Detrusor sphincter dyssynergia (DSD): An inappropriate contraction of the external sphincter concurrent with an involuntary contraction of the detrusor. In the adult, DSD is a common feature of neurologic voiding disorders.
Detrusor hyperactivity with impaired bladder contractility (DHIC): A condition characterized by involuntary detrusor contractions in which patients either are unable to empty their bladder completely or can empty their bladder completely only with straining due to poor contractility of the detrusor.
Detrusor hyperreflexia or instability (unstable or spastic bladder): Involuntary detrusor contraction in the absence of associated neurologic disorders, often causes urge incontinence.
Diabetic neuropathy: A condition in which portions of the spinal cord and its nerves have degenerated as a result of diabetes.
Disimpaction: The act of removing stool from the rectum, which could not be eliminated normally. Enemas, suppositories, laxatives, and finger extraction are all means of disimpacting stool.
Diuretic: A drug or herb that causes an increase in the need to void.
Dysuria: Painful or difficult urination, most frequently caused by infection or inflammation but it can also be caused by certain drugs.
Electrical stimulation: A treatment that is an application of an electric current or impulse to the pelvic floor muscles and bladder to cause a muscle contraction. This treatment is used in person's who have nerve damage to the bladder or pelvis. It may also be used to help in identification of the muscle. This treatment is part of behavioral treatments.
Electromyography (EMG): A diagnostic test that used to measure the electrical activity of the muscles, bladder and the pelvic floor muscle.
Enterocele: Dropping (herniation) or bulging of the bowel into the vagina or out of the anus.
Enuresis: The involuntary loss of urine (urinary incontinence) during sleep. This term is most often applied to bedwetting in children.
Estrogen: A hormone in women produced primarily by the ovaries. Estrogen is believed to play a major role in maintaining the strength and tone of the urethra and the pelvic floor.
Evacuation: Another word for a bowel movement.
External (condom) catheter: A device or coned shaped condom catheter that is placed over the penis to allow for urine drainage in men who have UI. These devices are made from latex, rubber, polyvinyl, or silicone that are attached to the shaft of the penis by some form of adhesive and are connected to urine collecting bags by a tube.
Fecal incontinence: The accidental and involuntary loss of liquid or solid stool or gas from the anus.
Fecal Impaction: A mass of stool (feces) that remains packed in the rectum rather than being passed normally. Impaction can contribute to incontinence by irritating the urethra causing urge UI or by blocking the urethra preventing the bladder from emptying completely causing overflow incontinence.
Feces (stool): Waste material produced from the intestines. Feces are composed of bacteria, undigested food and material produced from the intestines.
Fistula: A opening between two organs (between the bladder and vagina in women or the bladder and the rectum in men). Women with a fistula may have urinary incontinence.
Flatulence: The release of gas through the anus.
Frequency: An abnormally frequent desire to void usually more than eight times a day, often of only small amounts (e.g. less than 200ml).
Gas: Material that results from: swallowed air, air produced from certain foods or that is created when bacteria in the colon break down waste material. Gas that is released from the rectum is called flatulence.
Habit training: A behavioral technique that calls for scheduled toileting at regular intervals on a planned basis to prevent incontinence. Unlike bladder training, there is no systematic effort to motivate the person to delay voiding and resist urge.
Hematuria: Blood in the urine.
Hesitancy: Difficulty when starting the urine stream. An increase in length of time between initiation of voiding by relaxation of the urethral sphincter and when urine stream actually begins.
Hydronephrosis: Dilation of the renal pelvis and calices, and sometimes, collecting ducts, secondary to obstruction of urine flow by calculi, tumors, neurologic disorders, or any various congenital anomalies.
Hypermobility: A term that is applied to the urethra. When the urethra becomes hypermobile it with drop from its normal position during physical activity and may result in stress UI.
Hyperreflexia: Any exaggeration of reflexes. In UI, hyperreflexia is an involuntary detrusor (bladder) contraction resulting from a neurological disorder.
Hysterectomy: Surgical removal of the uterus.
Idiopathic: Applied to a medical problem or disease when the cause is unknown.
Impaction: A blockage of stool in the rectum, usually composed of a large amount of dried stool that is difficult to evacuate.
Incontinence: The accidental or involuntary loss of urine or stool. A person may have urinary or fecal incontinence or both (sometimes called double incontinence.)
Indwelling catheters: Catheters that are inserted into the bladder to allow for continuous draining of urine.
Intermittency: Interruption of the urinary stream while voiding.
Intermittent catheterization: The use of catheters inserted through the urethra into the bladder every 3-6 hours for bladder drainage in persons with urinary retention.
Intravesical pressure: Refers to the pressure within the bladder.
Intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD): A cause of stress urinary incontinence in which the urethral sphincter is unable to contract and generate sufficient resistance in the bladder, especially during activities that increase pressure on the bladder (e.g. coughing, laughing). ISD may be due to congenital sphincter weakness, such as myelomeningocele or epispadias, or it may be acquired from prostate cancer treatments, trauma, radiation therapy, or spinal cord injury.
Involuntary detrusor (bladder) contraction: A bladder contraction that is not under voluntary control. This can cause urge urinary incontinence, detrusor hyperreflexia, detrusor instability, and spastic bladder.
Kegel Exercises: Contraction of the pelvic floor muscles that support the bladder, uterus and rectum. The pelvic floor muscles maintain continence. These exercises were developed by Dr Arnold Kegel, an obstetrician and gynecologist in the 1940s.
Kidney: One of two paired organs (the kidneys) that continually filter the blood to separate out waste products, which are combined with excess water to form urine.
Meatus: The opening to the urethra.
Mesh: Like a net, web or screen. A mesh material may be used to support the bladder in certain surgery for stress UI.
Micturition: Another term for urination or voiding.
Minimum data set (MDS): A government mandated screening and assessment form for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified long-term care (nursing homes) facilities in the United States. This form is completed within 14 days of admission of a resident to the facility, quarterly and when there is a significant change in the resident's status. An annual update is also required. The information collected in the MDS is used in planning the care of the resident.
Mixed urinary incontinence: The combination, in a patient, of urge urinary incontinence and stress urinary incontinence (see urge incontinence, stress incontinence).
Nervous System: The nervous system is made up of nerves that are voluntary and involuntary is composed of the brain, the spinal cord, and the sensory nerves. The nervous system carries messages to the brain from the body, and motor nerves, which provide messages from the brain to the muscles and which help muscles function.
Neurogenic Bladder: An atonic or unstable bladder associated with a neurological disease condition, such as diabetes, stroke or spinal cord injury.
Nocturia: Awakening at night by the need to void. As a person ages, the number of times he or she awakens to void will increase.
Nocturnal enuresis: The involuntary loss of urine (urinary incontinence) in adults that occurs during sleep. This term is most often used for bedwetting in children.
Overactive bladder: A condition characterized by involuntary detrusor (bladder) contractions during the time the bladder is filling, which may be spontaneous or provoked and which the patient cannot suppress. Symptoms include urianry urgency, frequency, and nocturia and may include urge incontinence.
Overflow incontinence: The involuntary loss of urine associated with over distension of the bladder. Overflow incontinence results from urinary retention that causes the capacity of the bladder to be overwhelmed. Continuous or intermittent leakage of a small amount of urine results.
Parasympathetic: A part of the autonomic nervous system. Parasympathetic (cholinergic) activity causes contraction of the bladder and assists in the voiding process. Emptying of the bladder is primarily a parasympathetic activity.
Percutaneous: To place or perform a procedure underneath the skin. No incision (cutting) is necessary.
Pelvic floor: is a muscular structure that plays an important role in maintaining continence in males and female. It forms a "hammock", slung from the front of the pelvis to the back. It supports the organs of the pelvis: the bladder, uterus and the rectum.
Pelvic floor muscles: The hammock or sling of muscles in the pelvic floor that normally assists in maintaining continence by supporting the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus and rectum).
Pelvic muscle exercises (PMEs): A treatment that requires repetitive active exercise of the pubococcygeus muscle. Exercising these muscles will improve urethral resistance and urinary control by strengthening the periurethral and pelvic muscles. Also called Kegel exercises or pelvic floor exercises.
Pelvis: the ring of bones at the lower end of the trunk within which the pelvic organs lie in.
Perineometer: An instrument originally invented by Dr. Arnold Kegel to measure the strength of the pelvic muscle contractions. An electronic perineometer is used in EMG biofeedback training.
Perineum: Area between the anus and vagina in women, and anus and base of scrotum and penis in men.
Periurethral bulking injections: A surgical treatment for urethral sphincter deficiency that involves injecting materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or collagen into the periurethral area to increase urethral compression.
Pessary: Device for women that is placed in the vagina to provide support for pelvic relaxation or prolapse of pelvic organs.
Pharmacological treatment: The use of medications to treat urinary incontinence.
Polyuria: Excretion of a large volume of urine during a certain interval of time. It can be a result of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus or after taking a diuretic.
Post-void residual (PVR) volume: The amount of fluid remaining in the bladder immediately following the completion of voiding. A PVR can be estimated by abdominal palpation (feeling the stomach) and percussion or bimanual examination. Specific measurement of PVR volume can be accomplished by catheterization, pelvic ultrasound, radiography, or radioisotope studies.
Prevalence: Number of cases of a disease existing in a population at a given time.
Prolapse: The protrusion or dropping of the uterus (uterine prolapse), rectum (rectocele) or bladder (cystocele) into the vagina.
Prompted voiding: A behavioral technique for use primarily with dependent or cognitively impaired persons. Prompted voiding attempts to teach the incontinent person awareness of his/her incontinence status and to request toileting assistance, either independently or after being prompted by a caregiver.
Prostate: A donut shaped gland found only in men. The prostate surrounds the urethra and is found below the bladder.
Prostatitis: Irritation or inflammation of the prostate.
Prosthesis: An artificial device.
Pubic Symphysis: Pubic (pelvic) bone that lies under the mons pubis.
Pubococcygeus Muscle: Another name for the levator ani muscle, one of the pelvic muscles that hold the pelvic organs in place.
Pudendal Nerve: Main nerve supplying the pelvic floor, bladder and urethra. Damage to this nerve can cause incontinence.
Rectocele: Bulging of the rectum into the space normally occupied by the vagina, suggesting weakness of the pelvic floor.
Rectum: Last segment of colon, or large intestine, the lowest part of the bowel found right before the anus.
Resident Assessment Profile (RAP): Part of the minimum data set that assists the nurse to assess the cause of various disruptions or conditions. The RAP provides a systematic method of assessment and is used in the development of the care plan for the resident who lives in a nursing home.
Retention: Inability to empty urine from the bladder, which can be caused by atonic bladder or obstruction of the urethra.
Risk factor: Quality that makes a person more susceptible to a specific disease.
Scheduled toileting: Assistance to toilet or use of bedpan or urinal offered on a fixed schedule, for example, every 2 to 4 hours.
Sensory urgency: Urgency associated with bladder hypersensitivity (see urge/urgency).
Sling procedures: Surgical methods for treating urinary incontinence involving the placement of a sling under the urethrovesical junction and anchored to abdominal structures. The sling is made from either of tissue obtained from the person undergoing the sling procedure or of tissue obtained from another source (e.g. mesh).
Sphincter: Muscular structure that surrounds the urethra and allows the bladder to store or empty urine. This muscle is circular and acts like a valve, can relax or tighten to open or close the outlet of the bladder. The urethra has an internal and external sphincter. Internal sphincter is the portion of the urethra found at the bladder neck that keeps the urethra closed when a person is at rest. External sphincter is the portion of the urethra that is under a person's own control (voluntary control). The external sphincter is able top stop the flow of urine during voiding.
Stress urinary incontinence: A form of urinary incontinence characterized by the involuntary loss of urine from the urethra during physical exertion; for example, during coughing. The stress incontinence symptom or complaint may be confirmed by observing urine loss at the same time that there is an increase in abdominal pressure (e.g. during coughing, laughing). Urine leakage occurs in the absence of a detrusor (bladder) contraction or an over distended bladder (see hypermobility of bladder neck and intrinsic sphincter deficiency).
Stress Maneuvers: Activities that increase pressure in the bladder, such as coughing and laughing; this is a diagnostic test to check for stress UI.
Suprapubic: Above the pubic bone.
Suprapubic cystostomy: A surgical procedure involving insertion of a tube or similar instrument through the anterior abdominal (stomach) wall above the symphysis pubis into the bladder to permit urine drainage from the bladder.
Sympathetic nervous system: A part of the nervous system that causes relaxation of the bladder and contraction of the internal sphincter. Urine storage in the bladder is primarily the result of a functional sympathetic system.
Transient urinary incontinence: Temporary episodes of urinary incontinence that are reversible once the cause or causes of the episode(s) are identified and treated.
Trigone: The most sensitive area on the inside (wall) of the bladder, where bladder nerves are most highly concentrated.
Ultrasonography: A technique that uses ultrasound to obtain visual images of the urinary tract for the purpose of assessing its anatomic status.
Underactive bladder: A condition characterized by a bladder contraction of inadequate magnitude and/or duration to effect bladder emptying in a normal timespan. This condition can be caused by drugs, fecal impaction, and neurologic conditions such as diabetic neuropathy or low spinal cord injury or as a result of radical pelvic surgery. It also can result from a weakening of the detrusor muscle from vitamin B12 deficiency or idiopathic causes. Bladder underactivity may cause over distension of the bladder, resulting in overflow incontinence (see overflow incontinence).
Ureters: Two very thin muscular tubes about 8 or 9 inches long that transport urine from the kidneys to the bladder.
Urethra: A narrow tube through which urine flows from the bladder to the outside of the body; the opening of the urethra is at the end of the penis in men and just above the vaginal opening in women.
Urethral dilatation: a procedure in which a metal rod, called a dilator, is passed through the urethra for the purpose of stretching the urethra or opening a urethral stricture.
Urethral obstruction: Blockage of the urethra causing difficulty with urination; usually caused by a stricture or in men by an enlarged prostate.
Urethral stricture: Narrowing of the urethra.
Urethral pressure profilometry (UPP): A technique used to measure resting and dynamic pressures in the urethra.
Urethral sphincter mechanism: The segment of the urethra that influences storage and emptying of urine in the bladder. The urethral sphincter is like a "valve" that controls bladder emptying and voiding by tightening to close off the flow of urine or by relaxing, which opens the outlet from the bladder, allowing urine to flow from the bladder to the outside of the body. A deficiency of the urethral sphincter mechanism may allow leakage of urine in the absence of a detrusor (bladder) contraction.
Urethrocele: A hernia or dropping of the urethra allowing part of the urethra to press on the vaginal wall.
Urethrovesical: Connection or junction between the base of bladder (bladder neck) and urethra.
Urethrovesical angle: Angle formed by the base of the bladder and the urethra. Normal angle in women is between 90 to 100 degrees. An increase in this angle causes stress UI. Bladder suspension surgery will correct the angle.
Urge: the sensation from the bladder producing the desire to void.
Urge incontinence: The involuntary and accidental loss of urine when the person is aware of the need to get to the bathroom but is not able to hold the urine long enough to get there. Usually it is associated with an abrupt and strong desire to void (urgency). Urge incontinence is usually associated with the urodynamic findings of involuntary detrusor contractions or detrusor overactivity (see detrusor external sphincter dyssynergia, detrusor hyperactivity with impaired bladder contractility, detrusor instability, hyperreflexia, sensory urgency).
Urgency: A strong, intense desire to void immediately. It often accompanies frequency.
Urinal: A portable device that is used as a receptacle for urine.
Urinary incontinence (UI): Involuntary or accidental loss of urine sufficient to be a problem. There are several types of UI, but all are characterized by an inability to restrain or control urinary voiding (see mixed urinary incontinence, nocturnal enuresis, overflow incontinence, stress incontinence, transient urinary incontinence, urge incontinence).
Urinary tract: Passageway from the pelvis of the kidney to the urinary orifice through the ureters, bladder, and urethra. There is an upper urinary tract (2 kidneys and 2 ureters) and a lower urinary tract (bladder, sphincters and urethra).
Urinary tract infection (UTI): An infection in the urinary tract caused by the invasion of disease-causing micro-organisms, which proceed to establish themselves, multiply, and produce various symptoms in their host. Infection of the bladder, better known as cystitis, is particularly common in women, mainly because of the much shorter urethra, which provides less of a barrier to bacteria. In men, infection is usually associated with obstruction to the flow of urine, such as prostate gland enlargement.
Urinate: To void or to pass urine.
Urination: The act of passing urine.
Urine: The waste products filtered from the blood and combined with excess water by the kidneys.
Urodynamic tests: Tests designed to duplicate as nearly as possible the symptoms of incontinence in the way that you actually experience them. These tests determine the anatomic and functional status of the urinary bladder and urethra (see cystometry, electromyography, urethral pressure profilometry, uroflowmetry, videourodynamics).
Uroflowmetry: A urodynamic test that measures urine flow either visually, electronically, or with the use of a disposable flowmeter unit.
Uterine Prolapse: The uterus has slipped (dropped) from its normal position and the cervix is closer to or may protrude outside the vagina.
Vagina: Also known as the birth canal. The vagina is a collapsible tube of smooth muscle with its opening located between the urethral orifice and the anal sphincter of women.
Valsalva maneuver: The action of closing the airways and straining down on the abdominal muscles (such as when straining to have a bowel movement).
Videourodynamics: A technique that combines the various urodynamic tests with simultaneous fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy is a technique for examining internal structures by viewing the shadows cast on a fluorescent screen by objects or parts through which x-rays are directed.
Voiding or bladder diary (record): Also called an "incontinence chart." A record maintained by the patient or caregiver that is used to record the frequency, timing, amount of voiding, and/or other factors associated with the patient's urinary incontinence.
Voiding Reflex: the reflex in which the bladder indicates to the spinal cord that it is full of urine and the spinal cord then signals the bladder to contract and empty.
Last updated: April 2003
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