Sex differences in the determination of abdominal leak point pressure in patients with intrinsic sphincter deficiency

Purpose: We determined the effect of a urethral catheter on abdominal leak point pressure in men and women with intrinsic sphincter deficiency. Materials and Methods: A total of 21 consecutive men treated with prostatectomy and 19 women with intrinsic sphincter deficiency underwent abdominal leak point pressure measurements with a rectal catheter before and after removal of a 10F urethral catheter. Results: Of the 19 women 2 had leakage only when the urethral catheter was removed, while 17 had excellent correlation between abdominal leak point pressures before and after catheter removal (r = 0.83). In contrast, 10 of 21 men had leakage only when the urethral catheter was removed and 11 had weak correlation between abdominal leak point pressures before and after catheter removal (r = 0.46). Conclusions: An indwelling 10F urethral catheter is much more likely to invalidate abdominal leak point pressure measurement in men than in women with intrinsic sphincter deficiency.