ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Micturition and urinary continence depend on coordinated actions between the smooth (detrusor) muscle of the bladder and the striated external urethral sphincter (EUS), which closes the bladder. During urine storage, the detrusor muscle is relaxed and the EUS tonically contracted. This activation pattern is reversed when micturition occurs: the EUS relaxes and the bladder contracts, resulting in expulsion of the stored urine.
