Mictions

Mictions, or micturitions, refers to the act of urinating. The term micturition denotes the physiological process of urination; mictions is a plural form that may refer to individual episodes of urination. In modern clinical language, micturition is preferred, while mictions appears mainly in older texts or as informal usage.

Normal micturition involves coordinated storage and voiding reflexes. During bladder filling, sympathetic pathways relax the detrusor muscle and contract the internal urethral sphincter to retain urine, while afferent signals convey fullness to the central nervous system. The pontine micturition center and cortical areas integrate this information. Voiding is triggered when voluntary relaxation of the external urethral sphincter (pudendal nerve) and a parasympathetic-driven detrusor contraction occur, leading to urine release. After emptying, sphincter tone returns to promote storage again.

Disorders of micturition are common and span storage problems such as urinary frequency, urgency, urge incontinence, and nocturia, to voiding issues like hesitancy and urinary retention. Causes include age-related changes, neurologic disease, infections, prostatic disease, medications, and anatomical abnormalities. Evaluation relies on history, physical examination, urinalysis, and sometimes bladder diaries or urodynamic testing. Treatments emphasize behavioral techniques and pelvic floor therapy, with pharmacologic options (antimuscarinics, beta-3 agonists, alpha-blockers) and, when necessary, surgical interventions.

See also micturition reflex, urination, urology.