[Difference between the clinical significance of Credé voiding and Valsalva voiding in the urological management of spina bifida patients].

Retrospective analyses were performed to elucidate the clinical significance between Credé voiding (n = 56) and Valsalva voiding (n = 22) in the urological management of spina bifida patients who do not match the indication of clean intermittent catheterization. The age at initiating the urological management ranged from 0 to 31 years old (mean 2.1) in the Credé voiding and from 0 to 20 years old (mean 4.5) in the Valsalva voiding group. Seventeen patients in the Credé voiding group and 13 in the Valsalva voiding group were followed up for more than 10 years with a mean follow-up period of 14.6 and 13.7 years, respectively. Three patients in the Credé voiding group and one in the Valsalva voiding group showed progression of bladder deformity. In one patient in the latter group, vesicoureteral reflux newly appeared. In the Valsalva voiding group, disappearance or improvement of hydronephrosis was seen in three patients and that of hydroureter in three, bladder deformity in one, and vesicoureteral reflux in one. On the contrary, no patients in the Credé voiding group showed favorable changes in these pathological conditions except for disappearance of vesicoureteral reflux in one patient. Although these findings suggest possible superiority of Valsalva voiding over Credé voiding in the preservation of urinary tract, the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant. The clinical significance of Valsalva voiding remains to be elucidated through further study in neurogenic bladder patients.