Biofeedback treatment of intermittent urinary retention.

The treatment of a 29-year-old woman with intermittent urinary retention using biofeedback is described and discussed in the context of the pathophysiology of reflux urethral instability and related disorders of micturition. During attempts to train the patient to raise the pitch of an auditory biofeedback signal, which varied directly with intrinsic bladder pressure, evidence appeared for the involvement of sensory neuronal pathways in the disorder. This and other evidence are incorporated within an explanatory hypothesis.