Does posture affect cystometric parameters and diagnoses?

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of lying and sitting positions on urodynamic parameters and diagnoses. This prospective study was carried out on 96 women with urinary incontinence who underwent urodynamic assessment. Cystometry was performed both in the lying and sitting positions. For filling cystometry, we infused normal saline at a rate of 50 ml/min. All the results were entered on the urodynamic database and were analysed using Minitab software release 13.30. Mean age was 49 (20–84) years. Sixty-four (67%) women complained of mixed incontinence, 16 (17%) of urgency alone, eight (8%) of stress incontinence and eight (8%) of urgency and urge incontinence. Two (2%) showed stress incontinence by lying cystometry, and 53 (55%) by sitting cystometry. During lying nine (9%) demonstrated detrusor overactivity, while 53 (55%) demonstrated detrusor overactivity in sitting position. No case of mixed incontinence was diagnosed by lying cystometry but 17 (18%) cases were detected by sitting cystometry. This study explains the higher detection rate of stress incontinence, detrusor overactivity and mixed incontinence by cystometry in sitting position. Therefore, we recommend that sitting posture is preferred over lying position for performing cystometry.