Sympathetic innervation of the male feline urethral rhabdosphincter.

Sympathetic innervation of the male feline urethral rhabdosphincter was investigated by means of electromyography (EMG). Hypogastric nerve stimulation elicited responses in the rhabdosphincter, the latencies and amplitudes ranged from 40 to 107 ms and 6 to 40 microV, respectively. These hypogastric nerve-evoked responses in the rhabdosphincter were not affected by whether the urinary bladder was empty or full. The results suggest that hypogastric nerve-evoked responses in the rhabdosphincter are not dependent on somatic nerve, but are produced through a rather direct effect of sympathetic nerve on the rhabdosphincter.