Prognosis of bladder and rectum dysfunction | Bladder and rectum dysfunction – what is that?

Prognosis of bladder and rectum dysfunction

The prognosis of bladder and rectum dysfunction depends on its cause. If it occurs in the context of a complete paraplegia, the prognosis is poor. A cure is not possible with the current state of science.

Whether a bladder and rectum dysfunction can be cured after a herniated disc depends on how quickly the surgical intervention is performed. If the operation succeeds in removing the pressure from the nerve cells while there are still living nerve cells, the prognosis for the patient is usually good. The symptoms may recede. This also applies to bladder and rectum disorders in multiple sclerosis; with appropriate drug therapy there is a chance of cure.

Causes of a bladder and rectum dysfunction

The causes of bladder and rectum dysfunction are manifold. Mostly diseases of the nervous system are the cause. On the one hand this can affect the impulse processing in the brain.

In this case, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and brain tumours would be possible causes for the bladder and rectum dysfunction. On the other hand, the transmission of stimuli can also be directly interrupted. This is the case, for example, with a slipped disc.

Here the slipped out parts of the intervertebral disc press on the emerging nerves and damage them. Even in paraplegia, the connections from the central nervous system to the bladder and rectum are interrupted; in this case already at spinal cord level. A frequent cause of bladder and rectum dysfunction is a herniated disc.

Here the bulging disc presses on the sensitive nerve tissue. This pressure causes the nerve cells to die slowly. This leads to massive pain and paralysis.

Disorders of the bladder and rectum can also occur if the corresponding nerve cells are damaged. This is an absolute emergency. In most cases an immediate operation is necessary to reduce the pressure on the nerve fibres.

This can often prevent a permanent loss of bladder and bowel function. Thus, permanent incontinence can usually be avoided by early surgical intervention. Do you think you might suffer from a slipped disc? Learn here what the typical symptoms of a herniated disc are.

Diagnosis of bladder and rectum dysfunction

The causes of bladder and rectum dysfunctions can be very diverse. In order to be able to make a diagnosis, a specific anamnesis is therefore important. The patient has to be asked exactly whether only thin stool or also formed stool is involuntary.

The same applies to bladder dysfunction. Does the patient have the feeling that the bladder cannot be emptied completely? Is urination difficult?

If both bladder and rectum function are equally restricted, this is usually a neurological clinical picture. Accordingly, the patient’s medical history should ask about other neurological symptoms. Back pain or problems with the intervertebral disc in the previous history should also be specifically asked.

Then follows a physical examination. Depending on the suspected diagnosis, this will be followed by various examinations using different equipment; in most cases an imaging of the brain and spinal cord / spine using CT and/or MRI. If, after the anamnesis and physical examination, one suspects that a herniated disc is the cause of the bladder/rectum dysfunction, then an MRI examination of the lumbar spine (lumbar spine) should be performed.

Here you can see which spinal segments are affected by the herniated disc. These can sometimes be several segments. The advantage of the MRI examination is that in addition to the vertebral bodies, the intervertebral discs and also the nerve tissue can be well displayed.

One would see whether disc tissue is pressing on nerve cells of the spinal cord or the spinal nerves. In most cases, the MRI examination is even carried out without contrast medium. .