Recovery of bladder function after spinal cord transection.

All dogs having undergone spinal cord transection in our study exhibited a postoperative phase of spinal shock, with complete urinary retention and areflexic detrusor. This shock phase lasted between 2 and 6 weeks. Sequential pressure studies of paraplegic dogs substantiated the clinical supposition that urinary retention during spinal shock phase is caused by an unresponsive detrusor. The sphincteric mechanism could be the implicated as an etiologic agent. Return of detrusor reflex activity was observed in all animals.