Re: Urinary Urgency - cause?

Posted By Laura on February 24, 1998 at 01:48:20:

In Reply to: Re: Urinary Urgency - cause? posted by CCF Neuro MD# on February 22, 1998 at 14:41:56:







: : I have a probable diagnosis of MS (mild), and one of my symptoms is urinary urgency, which is under control with 2.5 mg of Ditropan TID.  I also have urinary retention of approximately 5 ounces.  I realize that both urgency and retention are very common in MS, but I have read that urinary retention can also result from a difficult child birth (which I did have with my first child).  So, my question is:  can urinary urgency also result from a difficult childbirth, or does it always result from some sort of damage to the CNS?  Thank you very much for your response.




Urinary problems including both retention and urgency are described after
difficult childbirth, this is frequently due to direct trauma to the
muscles of the bladder spincther and direct neurological damage is not required
to produce the problem.
while you did not mention the exact nature of the difficulties you
encountered, this  type of problem is reported particularly after the
use of forceps and after episiotomy.
Thank you very much for your timely and informative response.  To answer your questions: no, forceps were not necessary for the childbirth, nor was an episiostomy done.  In fact, my labor was very intense and brief (2 hours between an unhurried arrival at the hospital and delivery).  But my obstetrician arrived at the last minute, and in retrospect I think my pushing (only a few minutes) was rather out of control until she arrived (the resident on duty that night arrived only moments prior to my obstetrician).  Is it possible that I might have damaged the muscles of the bladder sphincter by those few minutes of possibly premature and out-of-control pushing?  By the way, I was eventually diagnosed with a mildly prolapsed bladder.  Thank you in advance for any more information you can provide.  I'm just very curious to know what possible etiologies, other than MS, might be causing my urinary retention and urgency.
Sincerely,
Laura