THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE BLADDER OBSTRUCTED BY BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA

None of the hypotheses to explain the genesis of obstructed detrusor instability covered in this report provide a satisfactory explanation, by themselves, for the condition. While symptoms associated with prostatic obstruction are a common cause of patient referral to a urologist, all therapeutic advances so far have been directed towards the relief of bladder outflow resistance. It is possible that pharmacotherapy, for example, with drugs which stabilize muscle cell membranes and autonomically active drugs such as α1‐antagonists, possibly combined with anticholinergics, will have a therapeutic role in the treatment of obstructive detrusor instability. Further studies of obstructed human bladder are necessary to investigate the importance of changes in receptor density, affinity and distribution, agonist release and degradation and subsequently the ultrastructural and physiological alterations following the relief of obstruction. Copyright © 1994, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved