Sympathetic innervation and chemical sympathectomy of canine bladder.

Chemical sympathectomy of the dog bladder produced by intra-aortic injection of 6-hydroxydopamine has been shown to increase the slope of the pressure/volume curve obtained by rapid fill cystometry. The volume threshold for eliciting a bladder contraction was decreased, whereas the pressure threshold did not change. Peripheral autonomic nervous elements in the bladder wall are described which are proposed as the morphologic basis for these and other such modulating influences.