blaassdruk

Blaassdruk is a Dutch term used in medical contexts to denote the pressure inside the urinary bladder. In urology it is often discussed as part of urodynamics, the study of how the bladder and urethra store and release urine. The concept includes the pressure during bladder filling, the pressure during voiding, and the detrusor pressure, which is the bladder pressure corrected for abdominal pressure.

In practice, blaassdruk is measured during urodynamic testing with catheters and pressure transducers. A catheter in the bladder records vesical (bladder) pressure, while a second sensor placed on the abdomen records intra-abdominal pressure. The detrusor pressure is calculated as the difference between vesical and abdominal pressures (P_det = P_vesical − P_abdominal). Tests may involve filling the bladder with saline and taking measurements at various volumes and during different portions of the voiding cycle.

Clinical relevance centers on assessing bladder function and identifying disorders such as bladder outlet obstruction, poor bladder compliance, detrusor overactivity, or neurogenic bladder. Abnormally high blaassdruk during filling or high detrusor pressure during voiding can indicate a risk to the upper urinary tract or imply the need for intervention.

Terminology varies by language; in English, the equivalent terms are intravesical pressure or detrusor pressure, depending on the context. See also urodynamics, cystometry, and detrusor pressure.