Experimental study on bladder wall's strain in vesical function.

The literature is reviewed and the applicability of Laplace's law to the urinary bladder considered as a sphere is critically discussed. Experiments were performed on live rabbits, on isolated bladders and on rubber balloons to study vesical adaptation and response to filling. From the data obtained, the authors propose "strain", rather than tension, as a characteristic quantity of bladder function and indicate the possible application of these experimental results clinically.