You are here: Home - Michael Mackey Urologist : Urology : Cystoscopy
Urology - Cystoscopy
|
Why do a Bladder Examination?A bladder examination is done for a variety of reasons. These commonly include:Bleeding There can be a number of causes of bleeding in the urinary system. Bleeding may come from the kidneys, the ureter (the tube connecting the kidneys to the bladder), the bladder itself, the prostate (in the male), or the water passage. To try and establish the site of bleeding, generally some pictures are taken of the urinary system, either with ultrasound or x-ray using dye. If no cause for bleeding is found on the imaging studies, generally bladder examination or cystoscopy is recommended. Bladder Irritative Symptoms There can be a number of causes for irritative symptoms of the bladder, such as frequency and urgency. This includes problems such as stones and growths of the bladder and also various inflammatory changes of the bladder. It is not uncommon to suggest that a sample of the bladder or bladder biopsy is done at the same time as the cystoscopy when investigating irritative symptoms. Flow problems Restriction in the flow may be due to a blockage somewhere in the lower urinary system. In the male the prostate and water passage are the two most common sites. Sometimes the poor flow is due to the fact that the bladder is just not “squeezing the urine out” as well as it should. Recurrent Infection When other investigations such as an ultrasound fail to show the cause for infection of the bladder, it may be advisable to do a bladder examination. Recognised Bladder Problems Sometimes stones or growth will be identified in the bladder, usually by ultrasound or x-ray studies. Following this, they may be attended to by combining a bladder examination with procedures specifically directed at getting rid of these problems. |