Pneumaturia Explained

Pneumaturia is the passage of gas or "air" in urine. This may be seen or described as "bubbles in the urine".

Causes

A common cause of pneumaturia is colovesical fistula (communication between the colon and bladder). These may occur as a complication of diverticular disease. Pneumaturia can also happen if a urinary catheter was recently in the bladder.

Other key differentials:

Male scuba divers utilizing condom catheters or female divers using a She-p external catching device for their dry suits are also susceptible to pneumaturia.[1]

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is made by patient history of passing air or a sputtering urine stream. CT scans may show air in the urinary bladder or bladder walls.

Notes and References

  1. Harris, Richard . Genitourinary infection and barotrauma as complications of 'P-valve' use in drysuit divers . Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine . 39 . 4 . 210–2 . December 2009 . 22752741 . 2013-04-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130526025635/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/9482 . 2013-05-26 . usurped .