Emptying dysfunction:

Saturday, 30 April 2005 13:27
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Baclofen may be of some help in emptying dysfunction.It is a muscle relaxant drug, which quite a few arachnoiditis patients take to combat muscle cramps.

Parasympathetic nerve stimulation may be helpful in patients with an upper motor neurone neurogenic bladder, i.e. an under-active bladder which fails to empty properly.

1)   Carbachol and bethanecol are choline esters which have been used to treat post-operative urinary retention. However, they have largely been superseded by the use of catheterisation.

2) Distigmine (Ubtetrid): inhibits the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (so works in the opposite way to anticholinergics): it may help patients with flaccid bladder. Dose is 5mg, half an hour before breakfast.