Urinary bladder

Vesica urinaria

Pear-shaped urine reservoir. Its neck lies at the pelvic inlet; the body extends cranially along the abdominal floor depending on how full it is.

Laterality:: Unpaired

Draft, not yet reviewed by a veterinarian. Content may contain errors. It is published so the community can review it.

View piece alone in 3D

This piece is a schematic shape, not a scan: there is no freely licensed model for this structure yet.

3D model of this piece: Vet Atlas procedural organs, CC BY-SA 4.0

Topography

The neck (cervix vesicae) lies at the cranial border of the pubis and continues as the urethra. When empty, the bladder can sit almost within the pelvic inlet; when full, the body and apex move cranially along the abdominal floor and may approach the umbilicus. The ureters arrive on the dorsal surface and open at the trigone.

Clinical relevance

Urolithiasis: struvite and calcium oxalate stones are the most common; Dalmatians are predisposed to urate stones. In males stones often lodge in the urethra just caudal to the os penis.
Cystocentesis: puncture of the bladder through the ventral abdominal wall to collect sterile urine.
Transitional cell carcinoma: usually at the trigone; Scottish terriers are predisposed.
Urinary tract infection: more common in females because of the short urethra.

3D model

Schematic shape (illustrative fidelity) of a moderately full bladder: apex, body and neck, which continues as the urethra through the prostate. It is placed from landmarks on the skeleton and the scanned organs.