Original Article

Correlation Between Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Genital Vibratory Thresholds

Jae-Yeong Yoo, Hyun-Suk Yoon, Kye-Min Chun, Hana Yoon
Author Information & Copyright
Department of Urology, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Korea.
Corresponding author (wowhana@ewha.ac.kr)

Copyright ⓒ 2009. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Mar 31, 2009

Abstract

Purpose

Biothesiometer is a device for quantitatively measuring vibratory thresholds in a noninvasive manner. It has been utilized for evaluating variety of neurological diseases for decades. We aimed to investigate difference of vibratory thresholds according to presence of specific lower urinary tract symptoms(LUTS).

Materials and Methods

173 female patients were included in this study. We investigated medical history, and performed physical examination, cystoscopy, and biothesiometry. Biothesiometry were recorded on clitoris, vestibules, and both labia minora. Relationship between age, LUTS, serum triglyceride(TG) and cholesterol(Chol) level, and vibratory thresholds were also analyzed.

Results

Mean age of patients was 51.8±9.4 years. LUTS consisted of stress urinary incontinence(SUI)(87.4%), urgency or urge incontinence(UUI)(77.1%), and frequency(66%). Age was closely related with vibratory thresholds. Correlation coefficient was 0.394, 0.343, 0.332, 0.294, 0.279 for clitoris, both labia, and anterior and posterior vestibules, respectively(p<0.001). Patients with SUI and UUI showed significantly increased vibratory thresholds on clitoris and right labium compared to those who do not have any of SUI or UUI(p<0.05). TG and Chol levels were not related with vibratory thresholds.

Conclusion

Vibratory thresholds of external genitalia area were increased in proportion to age. Patients had different vibratory thresholds according to their LUTS. This finding suggests that LUTS is associated with insufficiency of pudendal nerve.

Keywords: Genital sensation; Biothesiometry; LUTS