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Pneumaturia: Definition, Causes, and Symptoms

Definition of Pneumaturia

Pneumaturia is the passage of gases into the urine; it may be a symptom of serious diseases.

Causes of Pneumaturia

Pneumaturia is most often a sign of a vesicointestinal fistula caused by diverticulitis, colon cancer, Crohn disease, or after irradiation. Additional symptoms for vesicointestinal fistula are fecaluria or recurrent urinary tract infections. Rarely, gas-producing bacteria in severe urinary tract infections cause pneumaturia, see figure emphysematous cystitis. The medical history has to identify (single and harmless) pneumaturia after cystoscopy or catheterization.

**Emphysematous cystitis in i.v. urography:** gas formation within the urinary bladder wall is a sign of severe disease with risk of sepsis. Transurethral catheterization and intravenous antibiotic therapy are recommended as therapy. With kind permission from Harzmann, R. et al. (1985). Verhandlungsbericht der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Urologie, Vol 36. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
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