The effect of adrenergic drugs and hypogastric nerve stimulation on the canine urethra. A radiologic and urethral pressure study.

A combination of fluoroscopy and measurement of changes in urethral resistance was used to identify the nature and location of the urethral response to adrenergic stimulation. Intraaortic norepinephrine or bilateral hypogastric nerve stimulation produced a constriction of the prostatic urethra in males and of the distal urethra in females. Intraaortic isoproterenol produced a dilation in the same regions. The adrenergically sensitive areas determined in this study appear more discrete than those determined by measurements of urethral pressure profile.