Temporary stent - CoreFlowTM Soft Stent - for diagnosis of the causes of incomplete bladder emptying in men with neurological diseases

The new device - CoreFlowTM Soft Stent - was used for diagnosis of causes of incomplete bladder emptying (IBE) in 19 men with neurogenic diseases. Group 1 consisted of 8 men with IBE and prostatic adenoma. Group 2 consisted of 11 men with IBE but no prostatic adenoma. The CoreFlowTM Soft Stent comprises an introducer and a stent. Different active lengths of the stent are available to match it to the length of the prostatic urethra. The stent has an anchoring balloon situated in the bladder and a second anchor located distally to the external sphincter. CoreFlow was introduced in a similar way as an ordinary Foley catheter. The bladder was filled with 200 ml of saline solution through the introducer and the stent. The introducer part was then separated from the stent part positioned in the prostatic urethra. The stent part is connected to the integral "pull-thread" device which runs through the urethra ending outside the meatus. Reposition of the stent using the special thread opens the striated urethral sphincter. Out of 8 patients with prostatic adenoma and neurogenic diseases 4 could urinate with the stent part positioned in the prostatic urethra indicating that prostatic adenoma was the cause for IBE. These patients have undergone TUR. The other 4 patients of group 1 and 11 patients of group 2 could urinate only using Valsalva manoeuvre and after reposition of the stent for opening the striated urethral sphincter. This allowed us to conclude that these 15 patients suffered from detrusor underactivity. Our experience indicates that CoreFlowTM Soft Stent is a simple device for diagnosis of the causes of IBE in men with neurogenic diseases.