Doctors save a man suffering from ‘giant bladder’, six times bigger than normal
The Doctors from King George’s Medical University Hospital in India have drained nearly 11 liters of urine from a man who had a hugely enlarged bladder. By the time the man had the fluid drained out, his bladder was 30 cm long and ballooned to six times its size.
The 80-year-old man was presented with complaints of the swollen abdomen, which he was suffering for the last ten years. About four months ago, he had experienced a lower limb swelling, which forced him to seek medical attention. The man, who is also a diabetic patient, told doctors he had suffered multiple urinary infections, constipation, and weakness in his legs. He also complained about the difficulty in going to the toilet caused by his poorly managed diabetes. An ultrasound scan of his belly revealed “massive abdominal swelling, a hugely enlarged bladder. A CT scan was carried out to get a clearer picture. The hugely enlarged bladder had a dimension of 29cm x 26cm x 18 cm. Alarmed with the situation, the doctors immediately set to work on draining the fluid without wasting any time. Within the first four hours,10.5 liters of clear urine was removed using a catheter. The volume was 10995 milliliters – just a fraction lower than 11 liters, which is 18 times more than what a healthy bladder should hold. The normal capacity of a bladder is between 400 and 600ml. Over the next few days after the procedure, the swelling in the man’s abdomen and legs went down. The man was then ordered to stick on to strict diabetes control measures and intermittent catheterization. Further tests revealed he suffered from an under the active bladder and “low compliance with flow pattern”, meaning his bladder holds on to too much wee and doesn’t empty properly when he goes to the toilet.
The doctors, from King George’s Medical University, detailed the condition in a case study published in the British Medical Journal this week. The man’s condition is known as “giant bladder” and it’s extremely rare. “Giant bladder is an extremely rare entity and is not clearly defined in terms of bladder volume or other parameters. There are only a handful of reported cases in the literature and most were below five-litre volume.” Dr. Ashish Sharma wrote in the BMJ case report. “The present case has the largest volume of bladder reported,” he added.
“Exceptionally, our patient presented with both inferior vena cava obstruction and constipation,” doctors said.
An enlarged bladder can crush nearby vital organs, like the bowel, causing more problems for the patient.