Urge to urinate without passing urine as a symptom of endometriosis

How common is the symptom Urge to urinate without passing urine among people with endometriosis?

66,07% of people with endometriosis reported Urge to urinate without passing urine as a symptom of endometriosis in our survey.

How common is the symptom Urge to urinate without passing urine among people with endometriosis compared to the non-affected group?

9,83% of people with endometriosis suffer from the symptom Urge to urinate without passing urine very strong compared to a prevalence of 0,63% among non-affected individuals.
The following table shows the symptom Urge to urinate without passing urine in people with endometriosis compared to non-affected individuals. The scale ranges from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very strong).

Symptom Urge to urinate without passing urine in endometriosis - comparison with control group

Urge to urinate without passing urine in endometriosis
(n = 1730)
33,93%
19,13%
20,23%
16,88%
9,83%
Urge to urinate without passing urine in non-affected individuals
(n = 159)
76,10%
10,06%
6,92%
6,29%
0,63%

Tabular comparison of the prevalence of Urge to urinate without passing urine

Symptom severity Endometriosis Non-affected Comparison
not at all 33,93% 76,10% -42,17%
slightly 19,13% 10,06% 9,07%
moderate 20,23% 6,92% 13,31%
strong 16,88% 6,29% 10,59%
very strong 9,83% 0,63% 9,20%

Symptoms that could be related to Urge to urinate without passing urine

Based on the datasets, we calculated the Kendall correlation. The following symptoms could be related to Urge to urinate without passing urine.

Symptom name Correlation
Frequent urination moderate correlation (39,00%)
Pain during urination moderate correlation (33,00%)
Kidney pain weak correlation (25,00%)
Bladder infection weak correlation (24,00%)
Nausea weak correlation (22,00%)
Numbness in legs weak correlation (21,00%)
Limb pain weak correlation (20,00%)
Joint pain weak correlation (20,00%)
Pain during bowel movements weak correlation (20,00%)

Urge to urinate without passing urine in endometriosis

Endometriosis is a gynecological condition. It is commonly associated with pain around your menstrual period, menstrual bleeding disorders, and reduced fertility. These are also the hallmark symptoms of endometriosis. However, because of its complexity, endometriosis can trigger many other symptoms, including disturbances of bladder function such as urinary urgency without voiding. 

If you have endometriosis, growths of endometrium-like tissue can also occur outside the uterus. These so-called endometriotic lesions are found primarily in and on organs in the abdomen and pelvis. The areas around the uterus and vagina, as well as the ovaries and fallopian tubes, are often affected. But the bladder, ureters, and kidneys can also be involved. The growths can spread within organs, superficially on the outside of organs, or “deeply infiltrating” into organ tissue. Endometriotic lesions follow the same cyclical patterns as the uterine lining in the uterus: they build up and then bleed. Consequently, there may be blood passed with the urine, or bleeding into the abdominal cavity or into organ tissues. The results can include inflammation, scarring and adhesions, as well as cyst formation.

Only about one to two percent of patients with endometriosis have involvement of the urinary tract. In addition, the symptoms are nonspecific and can easily be confused with those of a urinary tract infection: besides urinary urgency without voiding, you may also experience pain when urinating, pain due to a full bladder, and blood in the urine. Urinary urgency without voiding can be triggered by the following aspects of endometriosis:

  • Generalized inflammatory processes in the abdominal cavity
  • Inflammation around the urinary bladder due to endometriotic lesions
  • Irritation of the urinary bladder by endometriotic lesions, or space-occupying masses inside the bladder due to endometriotic growths

Many patients with endometriosis also frequently have interstitial cystitis, a chronic, non-contagious inflammation of the bladder. Before starting treatment, it should therefore always be clarified whether endometriosis itself is truly the trigger of your urinary urgency without voiding. 

Did you know that you can also have a big influence on endometriosis symptoms yourself? In the Endo App you learn self-management techniques for endometriosis and find many interactive exercises to relieve symptoms.