The Urocuff Test

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The best predictor of symptom relief is a healthy, functioning bladder.

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The UroCuff® Test

Better answers.

The best predictor of symptom relief is a healthy, functioning bladder.

For men with BPH, maintaining a healthy, properly functioning bladder is key to long-term health and well-being. Your bladder’s ability to “pump” urine out of the body is directly related to BPH symptoms like frequency (going often), nocturia (going often at night), hesitancy (trouble starting), poor stream, and dribbling.

Depending on the health of your bladder, your symptoms and your overall health, you and your urologist will determine the best options to treat your prostate.

What is The UroCuff Test?

The UroCuff Test provides your urologist with information about your bladder function to better understand the causes of your symptoms. The UroCuff is a non-invasive diagnostic test for male urinary disorders (LUTS). This test allows your urologist to collect important data about your bladder function while you urinate.

The UroCuff® Test

How It Works

The UroCuff Test measures the amount of pressure generated by your bladder, your urine flow rate and amount of urine that you void.

  • A pneumatic cuff is fitted to penis.
  • Patient begins to void into a flow meter.
  • The cuff inflates until flow is interrupted.
  • Cuff rapidly deflates, allowing flow to resume.
  • Cycle repeats until the patient is empty.
  • Bladder function is determined from interruption pressure vs. flow rate.
  • The UroCuff report summarizes the results on a modified nomogram.

Preparing for the Test

It is important that you arrive at your doctor’s office with a comfortably full bladder. You should feel something like the “Need to go” face on the Urgency Scale shown here.

The UroCuff® Test

Simply follow the instructions provided to the right to ensure that your time in the doctor’s office goes smoothly.

  • Drink 32 oz. of water 1 hour before your appointment.

  • Arrive at doctor’s office on time for your appointment.

  • Arrive with a comfortably full bladder as shown by the orange face on Urgency Scale.
  • Check in at the reception desk. Let them know that you are scheduled for a UroCuff Test and communicate how full your bladder is.
  • DO NOT go to the bathroom before your test (you need a full bladder).
  • Wait in the waiting room for a clinician to collect you for your UroCuff test.

Frequently Asked Questions

Most patients referred for UroCuff testing have complaints of frequent urination or difficulty urinating, though there are other applications.
UroCuff Testing allows your doctor to evaluate how your bladder and the bladder outlet are functioning. With this information, your doctor will better understand your specific bladder health which will help in choosing a treatment plan that is best for you.
The test usually takes between 5 to 10 minutes.
Yes – bladder testing does not require that you miss any doses of your prescribed medication. If you are already taking medication to treat a urinary problem, your doctor may instruct you to stop these before the test.
For most patients, the test is not uncomfortable. Some patients may experience mild discomfort while the cuff is inflating.
The UroCuff test must be performed when you have a full bladder. If possible, arrive at the doctor’s office the day of your test with a comfortably full bladder.
When you arrive and are ready for your test, you will be brought to a private room. A small cuff, similar to a blood pressure cuff, will be placed around your penis, and surface electrodes may also be placed on your abdomen and/ or perineum. You will be asked to void (urinate) into a portable commode, or toilet. While you’re voiding, the cuff will slowly inflate until the cuff pressure stops the urine flow. The cuff will then deflate and you will begin voiding again. The inflation intervals will continue until you’ve emptied your bladder completely. The cuff and electrodes will then be removed.
Your doctor will review your test results and discuss treatment options with you.

Anatomy of Urinary System

The bladder is an elastic organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys before disposal by urination. Urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra. In the male anatomy, the urethra passes through the prostate, which is an exocrine (excretion) gland of the male reproductive system. In order to urinate, two things must happen. The detrusor muscle (a smooth muscle found in the wall of the bladder) must contract the bladder to squeeze the urine from the bladder and the external urethral sphincter muscle must relax to allow urine to exit the bladder via the urethra.

The UroCuff® Test

There are several reasons why you might experience voiding difficulties.

Two common reasons are:

(1) Bladder Outlet Obstruction and

(2) Low Bladder Contractility.

When the prostate is enlarged or swollen, it constricts the urethra, narrowing the passageway of the urine out of the body, and impedes the urine. This is known as Bladder Outlet Obstruction (BOO).

The UroCuff® Test

Common symptoms for both BOO and Low Bladder Contractility are:

  • Frequency.
  • Urgency.
  • Dysuria (painful urination).
  • Nocturia (the need to get up in the night to urinate).
  • Poor stream.
  • Hesitancy (a delay between trying to urinate and the flow actually beginning).
  • Terminal dribbling.
  • Incomplete voiding (urine still remaining in bladder).
  • Overflow incontinence (involuntary release of urine from an overly fully bladder, often in the absence of any urge to urinate).

Symptoms related to storing and voiding urine are known as Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS).

Talking to Your Doctor about The UroCuff® Test

BPH is a very common condition and is one of the leading reasons men visit a urologist. Whether you have just started experiencing symptoms or if you’ve tried various medications or even surgery, there are a range of treatment options available.

Before you visit the doctor’s office, you can take this BPH Symptom Quiz, designed by the American Urological Association, to determine the severity of your symptoms. We will discuss your symptoms together to decide which treatment option is best for you.

Schedule an appointment today to discuss your BPH symptoms with us.

Please contact us at (775) 322-7811