ABSTRACT
For a person to be continent, the pressure in the urethra must exceed the pressure in the detrusor
at all times. If bladder pressure should overcome urethral pressure, urine loss may result.
Researchers have devised different tests to assess the relationship between urethral and bladder
pressure. Their goal is to differentiate between patients with urinary incontinence based solely
on an anatomic loss of urethral support, from patients with a loss of ability to maintain urethral
pressure due to an incompetent urethral sphincter. Both urethral pressure profilometry and leak
point pressure look at urethral resistance to voiding. However, urethral pressure profiles are
static measurements along the length of the urethra thought to represent the intrinsic sphincter
mechanism, while leak point pressures are dynamic tests of the amount of pressure it takes to
overcome urethral resistance (1).
