DISTENTION OF THE URINARY BLADDER

Abstract

Sudden emptying of the chronically distended urinary bladder, especially in prostatic hypertrophy, has been condemned as hazardous for so long that the idea has become a tradition. The Ebers papyrus gives a prescription to prevent the too rapid escape of urine.¹ The conception that one must withdraw the urine slowly first received wide recognition early in the nineteenth century. It was then gradually lost to view, only to reappear with the comparatively recent development of prostatic surgery. I recently reviewed the literature dealing with the reaction to rapid decompression of the distended bladder; at this time only the portion which refers to the relationship of rapid decompression and bleeding will be reviewed in detail. The most widely accepted explanation of the supposed danger of rapid emptying of the bladder in cases of chronic retention maintains that the intravesical pressure is elevated as a result of the retention. This elevated