Micturition

- Dr. Chintan
 Micturition
• Micturition is the process by which the urinary bladder
empties when it becomes filled.

• This involves two main steps:

• First, the bladder fills progressively until the tension in its
walls rises above a threshold level;
• this elicits the second step, which is a nervous reflex
called the micturition reflex that empties the bladder or,
if this fails, at least causes a conscious desire to urinate.

• Although the micturition reflex is an autonomic spinal

cord reflex, it can also be inhibited or facilitated by centers
in the cerebral cortex or brain stem.
 Physiologic Anatomy
• The urinary bladder is a smooth muscle chamber
composed of two main parts:

• (1) the body, which is the major part of the bladder in

which urine collects, and

• (2) the neck, which is a funnel-shaped extension of the

body, passing inferiorly and anteriorly into the urogenital
triangle and connecting with the urethra.

• The smooth muscle of the bladder is called the detrusor

muscle - contraction of the detrusor muscle is a major
step in emptying the bladder
 Innervation of the Bladder
• The principal nerve supply of the bladder is by way of the
pelvic nerves, which connect with the spinal cord through
the sacral plexus, mainly connecting with cord segments
S-2 and S-3.

• Coursing through the pelvic nerves are both sensory

nerve fibers and motor nerve fibers. The sensory fibers
detect the degree of stretch in the bladder wall.

• The motor nerves transmitted in the pelvic nerves are

parasympathetic fibers. These terminate on ganglion cells
located in the wall of the bladder. Short postganglionic
nerves then innervate the detrusor muscle.
 Innervation of the Bladder
• skeletal motor fibers transmitted through the pudendal
nerve to the external bladder sphincter - somatic nerve
fibers that innervate and control the voluntary skeletal
muscle of the sphincter.

• the bladder receives sympathetic innervation from the

sympathetic chain through the hypogastric nerves,
connecting mainly with the L-2 segment of the spinal cord.

• These sympathetic fibers stimulate mainly the blood

vessels - sensory nerve fibers also pass by way of the
sympathetic nerves and important in the sensation of
fullness and pain
 Transport of Urine
• Urine flowing from the collecting ducts into the
renal calyces stretches the calyces and increases
their intrinsic pacemaker activity,

• which in turn initiates peristaltic contractions that

spread to the renal pelvis and then downward
along the length of the ureter

• peristaltic contractions in the ureter are enhanced

by parasympathetic stimulation and
• inhibited by sympathetic stimulation
 Transport of Urine
• The normal tone of the detrusor muscle in the
bladder wall have a tendency to compress the ureter,

• thereby preventing backflow of urine from the

bladder when pressure builds up in the bladder during
micturition or bladder compression

• Vesicoureteral reflux – enlargement of the ureters -

can increase the pressure in the renal calyces and
structures of the renal medulla, causing damage -
hydronephrosis
 The Cystometrogram
• When there is no urine in the bladder, the intravesicular
pressure is about 0,

• but by the time 30 to 50 milliliters of urine has collected,

the pressure rises to 5 to 10 centimeters of water.

• Additional urine — 200 to 300 milliliters — can collect with

only a small additional rise in pressure; this constant level of
pressure is caused by intrinsic tone of the bladder wall.

• Beyond 300 to 400 milliliters, collection of more urine in the

bladder causes the pressure to rise rapidly.
 The Cystometrogram
• Superimposed on the tonic pressure changes during
filling of the bladder are periodic acute increases in
pressure that last from a few seconds to more than a
minute.

• The pressure peaks may rise only a few centimeters of

water or may rise to more than 100 centimeters of
water.

• These pressure peaks are called micturition waves in

the Cystometrogram and are caused by the
micturition reflex.
 Micturition Reflex
• micturition contractions are the result of a stretch reflex
initiated by sensory stretch receptors in the bladder wall,

• Especially by the receptors in the posterior urethra when

this area begins to fill with urine at the higher bladder
pressures.

• Sensory signals from the bladder stretch receptors are

conducted to the sacral segments of the cord through the
pelvic nerves

• and then reflexively back again to the bladder through the

parasympathetic nerve fibers by way of these same nerves.
 Micturition Reflex
• When the bladder is only partially filled, these micturition
contractions usually relax spontaneously after a fraction of a
minute, the detrusor muscles stop contracting, and pressure
falls back to the baseline.

• As the bladder continues to fill, the micturition reflexes

become more frequent and cause greater contractions of the
detrusor muscle.

• Once a micturition reflex begins, it is “self-regenerative.”

• initial contraction of the bladder activates the stretch
receptors to cause a greater increase in sensory impulses to
the bladder and posterior urethra, which causes a further
increase in reflex contraction of the bladder
 Micturition Reflex
• cycle is repeated again and again until the bladder has
reached a strong degree of contraction.

• Then, after a few seconds to more than a minute, the self-

regenerative reflex begins to fatigue and the regenerative
cycle of the micturition reflex stops, permitting the
bladder to relax.

• the micturition reflex is a single complete cycle of

• (1) progressive and rapid increase of pressure,
• (2) a period of sustained pressure, and
• (3) return of the pressure to the basal tone of the bladder
 Micturition Reflex
• Once a micturition reflex has occurred but has not
succeeded in emptying the bladder,

• the nervous elements of this reflex usually remain

in an inhibited state for a few minutes to 1 hour
or more before another micturition reflex occurs.

• As the bladder becomes more and more filled,

micturition reflexes occur more and more often
and more and more powerfully.
 Micturition Reflex
• Once the micturition reflex becomes powerful
enough, it causes another reflex, which passes
through the pudendal nerves to the external
sphincter to inhibit it.

• If this inhibition is more potent in the brain than the

voluntary constrictor signals to the external
sphincter, urination will occur.

• If not, urination will not occur until the bladder fills

still further and the micturition reflex becomes more
powerful.
 Role of the Brain
• The micturition reflex is a completely autonomic spinal cord
reflex, but it can be inhibited or facilitated by centers in the
brain.

• These centers include

• (1) strong facilitative and inhibitory centers in the brain
stem, located mainly in the pons, and
• (2) several centers located in the cerebral cortex that are
mainly inhibitory but can become excitatory.

• The micturition reflex is the basic cause of micturition, but

the higher centers normally exert final control of micturition
 Role of the Brain
• 1. The higher centers keep the micturition reflex partially
inhibited, except when micturition is desired.

• 2. The higher centers can prevent micturition, even if the

micturition reflex occurs, by continual tonic contraction of
the external bladder sphincter until a convenient time
presents itself.

• 3. When it is time to urinate, the cortical centers can

facilitate the sacral micturition centers to help initiate a
micturition reflex
• and at the same time inhibit the external urinary sphincter
so that urination can occur.
 Voluntary urination
• First, a person voluntarily contracts his or her abdominal
muscles, which increases the pressure in the bladder
• and allows extra urine to enter the bladder neck and
posterior urethra under pressure, thus stretching their
walls.

• This stimulates the stretch receptors, which excites the

micturition reflex and simultaneously inhibits the external
urethral sphincter.

• Ordinarily, all the urine will be emptied, with rarely more

than 5 to 10 milliliters left in the bladder.
 Abnormalities of Micturition
• Atonic Bladder Caused by Destruction of Sensory Nerve Fibers
- preventing transmission of stretch signals from the bladder.

• person loses bladder control, despite intact efferent fibers

from the cord to the bladder and despite intact neurogenic
connections within the brain.

• Instead of emptying periodically, the bladder fills to capacity

and overflows a few drops at a time through the urethra -
overflow incontinence.

• crush injury to the sacral region of the spinal cord - syphilis

can cause constrictive fibrosis around the dorsal root nerve
fibers (tabes dorsalis)
 Abnormalities of Micturition
• Automatic Bladder Caused by Spinal Cord Damage Above the
Sacral Region.
• If the sacral cord segments are still intact, typical micturition
reflexes can still occur but they are no longer controlled by
the brain.

• first micturition reflexes are suppressed because of the state of

“spinal shock”
• if the bladder is emptied periodically by catheterization, the
excitability of the micturition reflex gradually increases - then,
periodic automatic bladder emptying occurs.
• Some patients can still control urination in this condition by
stimulating the skin (scratching or tickling) in the genital
region, which sometimes elicits a micturition reflex.
 Abnormalities of Micturition
• Uninhibited Neurogenic Bladder Caused by Lack of
Inhibitory Signals from the Brain.

• frequent and relatively uncontrolled micturition.

• partial damage in the spinal cord or the brain stem that

interrupts most of the inhibitory signals.

• facilitative impulses passing continually down the cord

keep the sacral centers so excitable that even a small
quantity of urine elicits an uncontrollable micturition
reflex, thereby promoting frequent urination.