Frequenza urinaria

What causes urinary frequency?

The basic causes of urinary frequency can be divided into three groups:

• Polyuria when too much urine is being produced.

• Instability of the detrusor mechanism.

• Inability of the bladder to stretch.

However, urinary frequency strictly speaking occurs when there is an increased need to urinate more often without a concomitant increase in the volume of urine.

How common is urinary frequency?

The true prevalence of urinary symptoms is difficult to study as embarrassment may contribute to under-reporting, but studies suggest it increases with age, as causative risk factors become more likely- eg, benign prostatic hypertrophy in men and genito-urinary syndrome of the menopause in women.

In a 2015 UK-based postal survey 7% of the women had symptoms of overactive bladder and 20% had mixed urinary incontinence.¹ A 2018 study of adults aged over 40 years in South Korea showed nocturia (36%) and frequency (30%) were the most often reported symptoms.² In the elderly it is very common in both sexes.^{3 4}

Eziologia

• Cystitis - eg, bacterial cystitis, interstitial cystitis; chemical cystitis - eg, cyclophosphamide.

• Uretrite.

• Vaginitis or vulvar vestibulitis.

• Infezione del tratto urinario (UTI).

• Instabilità del detrusore.

• Diabetes mellitus.

• Gravidanza.

• Prostate-related - eg, prostatitis, ipertrofia prostatica benigna, cancro alla prostata.

• Medications - eg, diuretics, doxazosina.

• Radioterapia.

• Schistosomiasi.

• Bladder dysfunction - eg, associated with neurological conditions such as sclerosi multipla oppure Malattia di Parkinson.

• Bladder tumours.

• Calcoli delle vie urinarie or foreign bodies.

Urinary frequency - associated symptoms

• Other urinary symptoms:
  

  • Disuria.

  • Urgenza.

  • Ematuria.

  • Nocturia.

  • Hesitancy.

  • Dribbling.

  • Dolore addominale.

  • Incontinenza urinaria (may suggest detrusor instability or may relate to inability to get to the toilet on time; also common in pregnancy).

• Also question about systemic symptoms - eg, weight loss, fever, etc.

Segni

• May be normal.

• Look for a distended bladder.

• In women vaginal examination may be appropriate.

• In men digital rectal examination should be performed.

Indagini

Urina

• Midstream urine for dipstick, microscopy, culture and sensitivities and pregnancy testing as appropriate.

Esami del sangue

• FBC, renal function, liver function, glucose, calcium.

• Prostate specific antigen (PSA) in men.

Imaging

• This will depend on the clinical suspicion.

• Bladder, renal and ureteric ultrasound.

• CT scan or intravenous urography (IVU) looking for ureteric stones.

• Bladder flow studies and cytometry.

• Cystoscopy.

Altro

A screen for infezioni sessualmente trasmissibili (STIs) may be appropriate:

• Urinary tract symptoms may also be associated with STIs.

• A 2018 study of 1,052 women presenting to an emergency department with UTI-type symptoms with possible STI, found sterile pyuria in 74% with negative urine cultures.⁵

Urinary frequency treatment

This depends on the underlying cause and may range from medications such as a course of antibiotics to surgery.

Vescica iperattiva

This is a clinical syndrome with one or more of the following:

• Urgenza

• Frequency

• Nocturia

• Incontinence

Patients have an immediate need to empty the bladder, which comes on suddenly. European guidelines recommend keeping a symptom diary for 3-7 days.³ This both assesses the scale of the presenting problem and acts as a marker for response to treatment.

Current management options include bladder training, anticholinergic drugs, intravesical botulinum toxin injections, intermittent self-catheterisation and sacral or posterior tibial nerve stimulation. Current research is focusing on novel therapeutic agents and some modifications of existing drugs.⁶

Vedi anche il separato Vescica Iperattiva articolo.